The Thief
by Jazz777
Summary: There's a thief at Ouran! And not just at the school... but Kyoya's house! Yet, all they steal are insignificant items... plates, candles... what could be going on? What will happen when the thief is caught and made to pay? How will the Host Club react to this new member? How easily can hate turn to love? Please read and review!
1. A Thief in the Night

**Hey everyone! So this story takes place right after the anime ends - I hope you all enjoy and please feel free to review!**

The figure was cloaked in darkness. It was probably around 3 a.m. How bothersome, he thought, ducking back behind the wall. It wasn't so much that he was worried about the figure, rather, he was annoyed that they were even there at all. How could they have possibly gotten past security? He wondered and pushed his glasses further up his nose. Guess it was up to him to take care of the situation. How bothersome.

He strode quickly and silently from behind the wall and crept to the side of a bookcase. A faint moon cast just enough light for him to watch as the figure picked something up. It was a candle. A simple, white candle that had been set, unlit on a side table. Curious, he thought, still watching the figure closely. The figure took the candle and stuck it in a side pocket. They then placed something small where the candle had been. With a closer look he saw it was a little paper flower. The figure prepared to leave. Very, very curious, he thought again. Time to make his move.

Sliding out from the shadows, he reached out and grabbed the figure, arm around the neck and hand covering the mouth. Simple, easy, and quiet. He knew he could easily have called the guard, but this was too intriguing. A thief that takes nothing more than a mere candle. Curious.

The thief froze in his arms. He was surprised with how small the thief was. Shorter than him and very slender. He didn't loosen his hold. Time to solve the mystery. For some reason he got a certain amount of joy from uncovering this filthy thief who'd _dared_ enter his home. It was satisfying to ruin their plans.

"Now, you can tell me who you are and what you're doing," he said calmly, voice at a whisper, "Or, I can call security and have you dispatched within five seconds… which shall it be?" He ended with a chuckle and saw just the tiniest twitch of the thief's hand. He waited, contemplating a forceful removal of the thief's face mask. He hadn't seen their eyes yet, but knew that this person was an annoying lowlife. Bothersome.

He sighed and went to turn the thief around so he could see their face. In an instant, the thief had twisted from his grasp, bent his arm painfully and shoved him backwards into the bookcase. Something in his shoulder hurt and he sat dazed. Before the thief could escape, he struck his leg out, ungraceful, but effective.

As the thief fell, he regained his composure, and held the fallen thief down with his foot. Now he was angry. Fury glinted in his eyes and he fought to swallow the rage. Time to end this annoyance, he thought, bending down to remove the black mask.

Two glistening eyes glared up at him, the sharpness to them struck him, but he had no time to analyze it. Just as he'd grasped hold of the mask, the figure had leapt up and pulled him over and down. He landed hard on his back, the wind knocked out of him.

He heard footsteps and then nothing. He winced and sat up, looking at the retreating figure. Long, flowing hair had escaped and was trailing behind the disappearing thief. He looked down at his hand, startled. The black cloth mask was in his hand. Those eyes. Of course, he thought, annoyed at his uncharacteristically slow realization. The thief was a girl.

**So what do you think? Who is this strange girl? Please review and let me know what you think - Thanks :)**


	2. Origami Rose

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading! Just as a little side note; I don't own anything and these characters, besides my made up ones, don't belong to me. Thanks and enjoy!**

The host club was open for business! Kyoya sat amidst the opening fanfare, carefully scratching numbers into his black note pad. He brushed away a rose petal and looked up for a moment. Tamaki and the twins were already at work. Satisfactory work, he thought, nodding silently to himself. Even Honey and Mori were working hard. Everyone was working. That made him happy.

"Senpai?" A voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned.

"Yes Haruhi?" He didn't bother smiling. It was only Haruhi, though he had to admit that he did care for her, especially because she didn't require the extra work of him having to charm her. It was a good, low-budget friendship.

"Well, I was wondering what was wrong," She looked up at him with big, brown eyes. He looked at her in surprise.

"There's nothing wrong," he lied.

"Come on senpai, you can tell me," she set down the tray of tea she'd been holding and held his gaze earnestly.

"Something _wrong_? Kyoya senpai?" A set of matching voices chuckled mischievously behind his back. He had to keep from rolling his eyes.

"What could it be Hikaru?" Kaoru whispered, none to silently of course.

"I don't know Kaoru. Such a lie. A secret?" Hikaru whispered back.

"Kyoya's got a dirty little secret," they grinned in unison.

"Kyoya? What's going on?" Tamaki joined them, leaving a group of daydreaming girls. Kyoya looked at them blandly.

"Kyoya lied to Haruhi," the twins sang. Tamaki's eyes widened.

"B-but Kyoya! We're family! H-how could you do this?" He grabbed Haruhi by the shoulders, holding her in front of Kyoya's face. "How could you lie to this face?" He exclaimed.

"Senpai… it hurts," Haruhi managed to say between Tamaki's sobs.

"Quit your crying Tamaki," Kyoya adjusted his glasses. "Nothing is wrong. I just had a little incident that I wanted to take care of, but couldn't." He ended with a trace of acid on his voice, still angry over the escaped thief. Tamaki released Haruhi.

"Incident?" Honey and Mori had come over by now and were looking curiously at them.

"Yes, an-" he stopped. Just then. Did anyone else see it? Or hear it? The door had closed.

"Did you…" he trailed off, eyes darting around the room, analyzing and taking every detail in. There. Right there. Where a small teacup had been. An origami flower.

He quickly strode over to the table, eyes glinting in excited curiosity. The flower, which turned out to be a rose, was made of a coarse, tan paper. The teacup was missing. It's her, he thought. Now's my chance to catch her. Make her pay for the annoyance she's caused me.

In a flash he was at the door, leaving the other hosts and guests looking at him in shock. He looked down the hallway. A retreating figure was just ahead. Got you, he thought proudly. He would win. He would get the payment due. He would get the results he wanted. Now was his chance.

He ran.

Down the hall, past the large, paned windows. He was almost there. The girl was running as well, but didn't bother to look back. She knew he was there. She knew and wasn't stopping. Fine, he huffed in rising anger, the nerve of this good for nothing thief, making me expend more energy than necessary.

Five steps away… now three… one step.

He grabbed her arm, yanking her to a stop. He caught his breath and saw her shoulders drop. Without speaking he turned her around, not caring whether he hurt her arm or not. He was furious. His eyes shone and red filled his vision.

It was a surprise when equally anger-filled eyes met his. Dark, narrowed eyes glared up at him. The girl was small and had a beautifully delicate face, though Kyoya would not admit that. Deep, burgundy hair spilled over her shoulders and made her look of defiance even more striking. He was taken aback.

"I know you," he said finally, voice steady. The girl said nothing. In her hand was the teacup. A beautiful piece of gold and rose. Kyoya eyed it.

"Kyoya!" Tamaki and the rest of the hosts had finally caught up to him. They stopped, staring at the strange girl. She returned their looks of surprise with one of anger. It was intimidating.

Before he could speak again, the girl swung her arm out of his grasp and slammed the teacup into the wall. The hosts watched speechless as it shattered.

"Don't follow me again," she said, and ran off.

* * *

Back in Music Room #3, the hosts had a conference. Kyoya examined the origami rose once again.

"So strange," Tamaki was saying to the group, "I wonder what she was doing…"

"Something undoubtedly bothersome," Kyoya said, coming to sit at the table.

"Kyoya senpai," Haruhi looked at him curiously, "I've never seen you so worked up about something." He hid his anger with a smile.

"This is a personal conflict," he continued smiling, everyone in the room felt the temperature drop. "I know who she is now, and she will get what's due…" The twins and Tamaki had turned blue in the face.

"N-now, let's not be too hasty," Tamaki reached out to Kyoya, hand shaking.

"Oh, I think I've actually been a little slow on this," Kyoya smiled sweetly, crushing the rose in his hand. Tamaki withdrew his hand quickly, gulping. A frigid breeze seemed to blow through the hosts.

"So who is she?" Honey, unfazed by Kyoya's frozen fury, hugged Usa-chan tightly.

"The girl who will regret having crossed me," Kyoya smiled and let the crumpled rose fall onto the table. "Emiko Minami."

**Wow, Kyoya has a lot of hidden emotions! He's definitely got an evil side, but I hope y'all like it! Thank you for reading and feel free to review! 3**


	3. The Proposition

**Chapter 3! If you've read this far, thank you! I really appreciate it! **

"Emiko! Please come here for a moment," a sad sounding voice echoed from another room. Strange, her mother sounded worried. She could hear the sniffing all the way down the hall. It was unnerving, but she'd never let anyone see that. She would remain calm and composed. Remain the honorable, desired child.

"Mother?" She stepped lightly into the room. The huge, heavily draped windows had been pulled shut and her mother and father stood together. They looked almost frail compared to the grand decorations of the room. Almost.

"Emiko," her mother began, choking back a sob, "We have some unfortunate news…" Emiko listened but didn't really listen. It didn't sound very interesting, and she certainly didn't want to worry about something unnecessary.

"We've lost one of our biggest clients," her father picked up her mother's sentence, stern face looking angrier than normal. Emiko remained silent. "You know the Ootori group, yes? They've pulled out of our contract," her father continued, deep voice sounding harsher and harsher by the second.

"And, dear, this might mean that we need to cut back a little more…" her mother's voice wavered.

Those awful idiots.

"And even our second chef…"

How dare they?

"But don't let this change…"

They'll regret this.

"We still want you to…"

That Kyoya Ootori.

"We expect the best from…"

I hate him.

* * *

Music Room #3

"Welcome Ladies!" The 'oohs' and 'aahs' resonated through the room. Ornate decorations and lavish furniture dotted the space. The host club members each wandered around, entertaining in authentic Victorian outfits.

"And, well, while this may be fleeting, I'll think of you on my lonely nights… my walks of solitude… for only you can bring the light to my darkness," Tamaki's eyes glistened, "Princess." The girl gasped and blushed brightly.

"Hey Hikaru! How does this go again?" Kaoru fumbled with the buttons on his shirt.

"Kaoru," Hikaru sighed, gently batting away his twin's hands. "I helped you put this on this morning," he undid the buttons.

"But Hikaru, you distracted me then," Kaoru blushed as Hikaru held his face.

"You didn't seem to mind..."

The girls around them squealed collectively.

"Stupid," Haruhi sighed as she walked past, holding an old English teapot.

"They make a good profit," Kyoya remarked. Haruhi huffed and continued walking.

"Kyoya Ootori," a voice to his right said.

"Yes…" he turned and froze. The girl, Emiko, stood there, eyes burning with fury.

"How _dare_ you…" her voice was hard.

"Kyoya?" Tamaki peeped around from behind Kyoya's shoulder. "This girl…"

"This is Emiko Minami, daughter of one of the Ootori group's fabric suppliers. The Minami Fabric Co. provides fabric for our police and hospital uniforms. It's quite a profitable relationship for them… though I can't say how profitable it is now," he smiled, though his eyes were calculatingly cold.

"You've taken the majority of our income," Emiko growled low, "You have no right to do this!"

"On the contrary," Kyoya smiled, knowing he had the upper hand, "I have every right. It's you who chose to break into my home. It's you who chose to come to the host club in the first place… all I did was suggest that the Minami Fabric Co. was losing its usefulness," he finished triumphantly.

The hosts watched as the anger slowly faded from Emiko's eyes. She felt burned out and at a loss for words. An interesting feeling, she numbly noted. Can't let this happen. She clenched her fists in annoyance and determination.

"Fine. What can I do?" Her voice cut through the silence. Kyoya raised his eyebrows. He thought for a moment, genuinely surprised by her sudden energy.

"Kyoya, if I may," Tamaki interceded, "While I don't know what happened at your house, I know that she acted rashly here at the host club… so, with your blessings Kyoya," he swung his arm around and pointed at Emiko, "From now on you'll be the Host Club's maid!"

* * *

**What do you think? I'd love to hear from you, so please review if you want... I'm truly grateful that you've read this far! Thanks :]**


	4. The Request

… "What can I do besides that?" She turned from Tamaki's horrified face. The hosts watched as Tamaki curled into a ball in the corner and grayed.

"Tsch… now the boss' gone," Hikaru looked shrewdly at Emiko. Kaoru studied her as well.

"Don't be sad Tama-chan! I thought it was a great idea!" Honey said tentatively, also glancing back at Emiko. She sighed, not quite sure what was happening.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine. He does that sometimes," Haruhi came to stand beside Emiko.

"Oh," Emiko looked curiously at Haruhi, but said nothing else.

"Kyoya, so now what? What do we do with her?" The twins pointed unceremoniously at Emiko. Kyoya pushed his glasses up.

"We do what our leader says," he turned a stone-cold smile to Emiko, "You'll be our new maid since Haruhi's moved up the ranks from "dog" (Haruhi: is that supposed to be a compliment?). And if you ever want to regain the Ootori group as a customer, you'll have to earn it." Emiko regarded him with a look of utter contempt.

"Alright," she said quietly, after some thought, "But," she looked straight at Haruhi, "I want to be able to wear a boys' uniform like her."

_WHAT!?_ Tamaki woke from his stupor and he and the twins babbled frantically.

"What are you t-talking about? Haruhi's so manly!"

"Y-yea… wow Haruhi… you've been so strong and manly today…"

"Haruhi's like a brother! N-not a s-sister…"

"Pfft…" Emiko interrupted them, "I knew she was a girl from the start…"

A chorus of three "oh's" came from the deflated figures of Tamaki and the twins. "And," she continued determinedly, "If I have to listen to _that_ (pointing straight at Kyoya), I want to be able to wear a boys' uniform."

"Unfortunately we can't have that," Kyoya's voice cut through. Emiko turned her glare to him. "The entire school believes Haruhi is a boy. If we let a girl wear a boy's uniform then people would start suspecting that other students are cross-dressing. And the most feminine "boy" here is…"

"Haruhi," Tamaki finished his sentence. The twins' mouths gaped in distress. "My little girl! Daddy won't have it!" Tamaki wailed, then, regaining composure, clapped his hands. "Hikaru, Kaoru."

"Boss?"

"Make this young maiden an outfit she'll want to wear!" They saluted and began dialing on their cell phones. Tamaki turned to Emiko. "Now, you'll have to wear your uniform for school classes, but I think I can get you some leniency for wearing something else on the school grounds," he smiled sweetly and spoke softly.

"Oh, of course," Emiko bit her lip in thought, "The chairman's son." She looked at the twins, who were holding out a measuring tape. "No," she said flatly. Tamaki withered.

"Hey, if you don't like the uniform, I know for sure the Hitachiins can design something incredible… and while they're all a little ridiculous," Haruhi was standing next to Emiko, "I think it'd be fun to have another girl around." She smiled sweetly at Emiko. Emiko paled and gulped.

"I-If you think so," she stuttered, unsure of how to respond to such a sweet comment. Haruhi was the first girl who hadn't acted numb to her. She was genuine. She was a girl Emiko could like. Could they be friends? How hopeful, Emiko thought sadly.

"Then it's settled," Kyoya had gone back to jotting down facts and figures in his note book, "You'll work for us as a maid and slowly earn back my family's business… And," he added with a note of malice, "You'll do everything I say, or else your family is ruined." He smiled meanly. Emiko gritted her teeth and looked like she was about to say something, but sighed instead.

"Fine," That Kyoya was lucky her parents and maids had taught her such restraint. She really wanted to hit him.

After Emiko had left, leaving all of the hosts to usher their guests out, they had another conference.

"I like her," Honey grinned and popped a chocolate into his mouth. "Don't you Takashi?" Mori nodded.

"She's definitely interesting," Tamaki ran a hand through his hair.

"She's interesting for now…" Hikaru began. "But she could get boring," Kaoru finished.

"Come on guys, be nice. She just seems a little misunderstood," Haruhi crossed her arms. "What I don't get is why she's stealing stuff… what about you, senpai? She broke into _your _house…What do you think of her?" She asked Kyoya, who was staring intently at his computer screen.

"Me? Oh, I hate her,' he replied, voice emotionless. It was such a bother to dislike someone, but this was a special case. He had a natural dislike for her already and wanted her to repay the time and energy he'd expended. He'd already calculated how much work she'd need to do to repay him. So, yes, of course he hated her.

**Hey all! How do you like it so far? Thanks for reading! As a side note, I want to make sure that y'all know that this is set just after the anime ended... I know I said it before, but just a reminder! Thanks again and I really appreciate it! **


	5. Beginner's Luck

**Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! I really appreciate it and let me know what you think! **

"You're such a good girl Emiko."

"Yes, your parents must be very proud."

"Always so obedient."

"Such a lovely, good girl"

"A good girl."

* * *

She snuck quietly through the house. It was dark and a light rain drifted through the sky. She wished it was brighter. It was a lot more fun when there was more chance of getting caught. Silently, like a cat, she leapt down from the counter. There were several china plates stacked to the right of the sink, as well as some fine silverware. She ignored those. Instead, she stole through to the next room. A library. It was a magnificent library, with velvet drapes and shelves upon shelves of expensive and ornate books. She let her eyes wander over to a smaller bookcase. She padded over and picked up a small volume. _A Beginner's Guide to Gardening_. It was thin and green. She liked it.

Quickly, she tucked it into her belt at her side, making sure it was secure. Then she placed a delicately folded paper rose where the book had been. This was her favorite part. She looked, satisfied at the almost unnoticeable change to the room. Turning, she exited the room.

She ran lightly back through the house, to the window she'd entered from, and shimmied her way through it. Holding carefully onto the ledge, she let herself fall onto the lower section of the roof. She heard voices. The night guard. She ducked down, pressing herself flat on the roof, waiting until the voices passed. Once she was sure they were gone, she carefully lowered herself onto a thick, concrete wall that circled the mansion. Taking care to step over the alarms and avoid the grounds dogs, she escaped into the night.

She jogged home quietly, lost in thought. There had been a time when houses like this had been a challenge for her. They'd provided high stakes, but now it was different. Things were too easy. Guards and security systems were too easy to avoid or disable, and everything she took from her raids was never anything of importance. Hardly anyone ever noticed what was missing, unless they found the origami rose.

How boring, she thought, slipping past her own mansion's security guards. Really, this was hardly any fun anymore. She sighed, then remembered earlier that day. Kyoya. That obnoxious, controlling idiot. He'd been the only one to catch her so far, with the exception of the maid who'd once found her stash of stolen trinkets. How annoying, she slipped off her black pants and shirt, throwing her new mask to the floor.

Yes, she thought as she climbed into bed, this whole thing is very annoying. But I'll do it. I'll get back my family's money, their reputation. I'll show him. I'll show that Kyoya Ootori!

* * *

The next day: Music room #3

"Welcome ladies!" The Host Club was open for business.

"Oh Haruhi, you're such a great listener!" Haruhi chuckled in humbleness.

"Well, what you have to say is important," she replied matter-of-factly. Tears glistened in the other girls' eyes.

"The natural type strikes again!" Tamaki had looked away from his guest for one second to spy on Haruhi's conversation. Her success made him wither a little inside. His little girl, such a great host! How endearing and confusing at the same time.

"Boss? B-o-s-s…" Hikaru and Kaoru tilted their heads at him. Tamaki shook his head, blushing slightly.

"W-what? What's going on?" The twins looked at him, but didn't say anything, they just pointed.

At the door, Emiko was standing, wide-eyed and incredulous. The room, as Tamaki had almost forgotten, was fully outfitted in a call-of-the-wild type décor. The hosts had on stylishly draped costumes and palm trees and exotic-looking flowers flourished in every corner. Emiko had to blink her eyes in surprise.

"Ah, Emiko," Tamaki moved toward her, reaching out his hand.

"What is this?" Emiko looked at the starry-eyed guests with disgust.

"It's our theme of the day," Tamaki said with a smile.

"It's ridiculous," she snapped, wanting to shut the door in his face.

"Now that's not very nice," Kyoya came up and smiled coldly at her. He wrote a few calculations in his notebook and clapped it shut. "Ten additional hours," he said looking at her.

"What?" She shouted in annoyance. "Why?"

"You insulted the very thing that makes us so successful. If you're going to be a maid for the Host Club, you'll have to try to be more charming. You can do that, can't you?" Emiko heard the challenge on his voice. She glared fiercely at him.

"Emi-chan!" Honey bounced up to her, hugging her arm with Usa-chan in his other hand. "Emi-chan, you can wear this! The twins made it for you! You'll look so cute!" Hikaru and Kaoru held up a dress that fit perfectly with the rugged scenery. It made Emiko want to disappear.

"No. Never in a million years," she began to back up. Mori glanced at Haruhi.

"Hey, Emiko," Haruhi placed her hand on Emiko's arm. "It is ridiculous, but it's not as bad as you may think." Haruhi gestured to her manly, wilderness ensemble. Emiko kept her head down. _Oh no. She's so nice… I can't say no to her. But…_

"Well, honestly she has no choice," Kyoya said.

"Kyoya senpai," Haruhi began. Anger flared up inside Emiko. She fought to control it.

"No. I'll do it," Emiko said through gritted teeth, finally looking up, "But it's my _choice_. Don't forget that you heartless manipulator!" Her eyes burned with indignation and she took one last hate filled look at Kyoya before snatching the dress from the Hitachiins and storming to the changing room.

"A little cold huh Kyoya?" Tamaki stood looking after Emiko.

"It's necessary," was all Kyoya said before turning away. The hosts returned to their guests, all still a little unsettled by Kyoya's attitude.

* * *

"Hmm, I wonder where Emi-chan is..." Honey swung his legs back and forth. He had already eaten two pieces of cake and was thinking of a third when he thought of Emiko.

"Oh right…" Tamaki ran a hand through his hair. She was taking an awfully long time. _I hope she's okay_.

"We're on it!" The twins linked arms and ran to the dressing room.

"You know she's probably just embarrassed by all of this," remarked Haruhi sympathetically, thinking back to when she first began as the Host Club's "dog".

"Yes, well-"

"Ahhhhhh!"

A scream pierced the room.

**Chapter 5! I'm making these chapters pretty short because I wanted this to be more of a scene-by-scene type of story. But for the longer plots I'll have longer chapters. Thanks again for reading and I hope you liked it! **


	6. Skills Uncovered

Instantly Mori looked to Honey. Finding that Honey was not in danger, he let his racing heart quiet and his calm and collected mind take over. Tamaki and Haruhi had jumped at the scream, even Kyoya had not expected such a frightening howl. Without a word, they all ran for the changing room. The door was wide open and they crowded into the small space.

The curtain to the inner changing area was flung to the side and Hikaru lay, curled on the ground. Kaoru was bent over him, arms spread protectively. Taking in the scene, the rest of the hosts finally noticed Emiko. She was backed into the corner of the room, clutching the dress to her and looking wide-eyed at Hikaru and Kaoru.

"What happened?" Haruhi knelt beside Hikaru, who was groaning in pain and clutching at his right shoulder. Emiko couldn't speak. She just stared. Kyoya pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and pushed back his anger.

"What did you do to him?" Kaoru cried at her. Tears welled up in his eyes.

"N-no. I'm okay," Hikaru mumbled, grimacing. Haruhi examined him for any sign of blood, but finding none, she looked up at Emiko.

"Emiko," she spoke her name softly, "What happened?" Emiko didn't respond.

"Alright. That's enough," Kyoya stepped forward, arms folded commandingly. "Tell me what occurred here." His voice was calm, but his eyes glinted menacingly at Emiko. "If you want to continue earning back your family's money, you'll speak… now."

This startled her out of her daze. Knuckles white, she sank to her knees, still covering herself with the dress. She dropped her head in shame.

"I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone… I…" she trailed off, eyes on Hikaru. Swallowing, she continued. "I hit him. I'm sorry… I hadn't changed yet, but I wasn't expecting them to come in so suddenly, and I got startled and just lunged. I'm so sorry," her shoulders sagged in apology and she couldn't lift her eyes to meet anyone else's.

"This kind of hit," Honey began, voice serious, "This isn't the type that a normal girl would know. You had force and you aimed it."

"Like you knew how to fight," Mori finished for him, standing more relaxed now that there was no real threat.

"Yes, it is interesting that such a small frame could hit so skillfully… unless you've had training," Kyoya looked back at her.

"I," she hesitated, not knowing whether she could trust these near-strangers. Then she glanced at Haruhi. If Haruhi trusted them with the secret of her gender, surely Emiko could trust them with this secret? Right?

"I have been trained, but only for defense!" She quickly explained, grimacing at their surprised faces. "It was a maid who taught me. She taught me a lot… She'd been attacked once and didn't want that to ever happen to me, so she trained me to defend myself and others," she looked at the ground.

"That's a very admirable thing to do," Tamaki finally said, grabbing a towel and covering her exposed shoulders. She looked at him in relief.

"You're much more forgiving than I am, Tamaki," Kyoya said with a sigh and walked out. Emiko looked at his back with disgust.

"Don't mind him Emi-chan," Honey, back to his normal, bubbly self, helped Mori lift Hikaru out of the room.

"Yeah, Kyoya-senpai can be a bit rough around the edges," Haruhi shrugged and smiled. _She's so lucky_, Emiko thought, _not having to worry about being a perfect girl_.

They went to the door, Tamaki following Haruhi. They exited, but Kaoru paused, gripping the door handle tightly. He looked back over his shoulder, eyes shining with rage and distrust.

"I won't forgive you." He slammed the door behind him.

* * *

The next day:

"Hi-Hikaru! Stop that!" Emiko raced across the room. Hikaru had been about to pour some tea with his good arm. Emiko, heart pounding in worry, snatched it from his grasp. "You're not supposed to do anything!" She panted and poured the tea shakily.

"Emiko, I'm fine!" Hikaru whined and sat back on the chair, bored. "Why're you so nervous anyway? It wasn't actually your fault," he continued, looking at his newly bandaged shoulder. _Just another arm injury to add to the list_, he thought with a shrug.

Emiko froze. _"I won't forgive you."_ He'd said it with such a frightening tone. He'd said it with finality. She didn't dare look across the room to where Kaoru was ushering in some new guests. She felt her honor and pride shrivel up. It was terrifying feeling.

"Ah, Emiko?" Hikaru tilted his head in curiosity.

"Oh, ah… nothing. I just want to make up for putting you in that condition," she hastily replied.

"Poor Hikaru! You must be in so much pain!" The girls instantly crowded around him, pushing to get as close as possible.

"Hey! Watch it! You have to give him space! His arm-" Emiko put her arm in front of him.

"What, do you love him?"

"Why are you being so protective?"

"Do you think you're so pretty that you can have the hosts all to yourself?"

Emiko's eyes blazed with fury. _How dare they? All I'm trying to do is make sure his arm doesn't get even more hurt! _

"You annoyi-" Kyoya clapped a hand over her mouth and gripped her shoulder tightly.

"She means to say, ladies, that she's so sorry to have bothered you, but we really want everyone to be careful around Hikaru and his arm," Kyoya smiled sweetly at the nodding girls, "Okay?" They shook their heads vigorously and grudgingly apologized to Emiko. She'd frozen in Kyoya's grasp, but was now fighting to squash the growing resentment.

"You _need_ to work on your composure," Kyoya pulled her aside and looked at her disapprovingly.

"And _you_ need to work on being less of a controlling, power-hungry tyrant," she threw back, crossing her arms. (Kyoya: tyrant? Really? Now _I'm_ starting to get annoyed)

"Annoying," Kyoya sniffed and adjusted his glasses.

"_I'm _annoying? Me? You're the one who brought me into this mess!" Emiko had to hold herself back from punching him. Her annoyance doubled when all he did was smirk and shrug.

A movement to her left made her stop. Hikaru was lifting the teapot by his left hand. The uninjured one. But he was off balance. In seconds, she had pushed past Kyoya and run toward Hikaru.

She saw him lose footing and his grip on the hot handle. "Hikaru! Don't!" Without thinking, she ran faster and threw herself in front of him, knocking him out of the way of the searing-hot water. The teapot shattered loudly on the floor. Kyoya's eyes widened in shock.

"Emiko! Emiko!" Hikaru leapt up and rushed to her side. She crouched amidst the broken fragments of the teapot, holding her arm gingerly. "Emiko, are you okay?" Hikaru touched her shoulder with his left hand, eyes worried. She bit her lip and paused, waiting for the pain to subside.

"… Now we match," she threw up her head to look at him with a smile, not daring to let any tears escape.

"What happened?" Kyoya and the others had quickly removed the guests and promised them compensation.

"Hikaru?" Kaoru came and knelt beside them. "Are you okay?" He looked at Hikaru worriedly.

"I'm alright," Hikaru replied with a small smile, "Emiko pushed me out of the way." Kaoru looked at her. His anger and dislike faded when he saw the bright, blistered skin on her arm.

She looked at him, eyes still blinking back tears of shock. _Do you forgive me? Can I earn your forgiveness? _She looked away, not wanting to see his look of hatred.

He looked on as Hikaru laughed in relief, feeling his own relief flood his emotions.

_Yes. _

* * *

**End of chapter 6! How did you like it? Please let me know :) thanks for reading! **


	7. The Barriers Between

**Hello everyone! Glad you've made it this far! Thanks for reading and let me know what you think :)**

"Really, you have a brain don't you? Use it," Kyoya unfurled the last of the cloth bandage around her arm and secured it.

"And you wouldn't have done the same?" Emiko gazed out the window, not even bothering to waste the energy with being annoyed at him.

"Not at all," he said without emotion, packing up the first aid kit. She could've gone to the nurse, but she wouldn't. She'd barely let Kyoya touch her arm, much less treat it. "Self-preservation," he continued, "That's more important than anything." He clicked the clasp of the first aid kit shut and looked at her. She turned to him, smiling at the ground.

"You really like playing the bad guy, huh?" He froze. She looked up at him, meeting his eyes. _No. She was not smiling sweetly_, a small part of him thought, _she was figuring something out. That smile was her solving a piece of the puzzle. Dammnit_.

"Something wrong? Senpai?" A mischievous glint flashed across her eyes, it was a look of triumph. He hated it. He pushed his glasses up.

"Kyoya!" Tamaki saved him from having to answer. "How is she?" The group entered the room and crowded around the table.

"I'm alright," Emiko smiled at them, feeling relieved that Kaoru hadn't instantly glared at her. Instead, he was looking at his feet.

"I'm glad you're alright… and… I'm sorry," he mumbled, hoping the others wouldn't notice his embarrassment. Not knowing what to say in response, she kept her head down as well.

"Wow, Emi-chan! You're so brave! Does it hurt?" Honey's bubbly voice interrupted the uncomfortable silence.

"No, I'm fine, really," she looked at her skillfully wrapped arm and reluctantly admitted that it was well done. _Curse that Kyoya. No, it doesn't matter. He's still a cruel devil… even if he took care of my arm… _

"Thanks, by the way," Hikaru looked at her sincerely. "I mean it." She nodded at him and smiled, glad to have rectified things with the twins. It had made her anxious to have been so openly hated by Kaoru. It had been an unknown feeling, being hated. She hadn't liked it.

"Oh… ah, I'd better get back to work!" She leapt up, remembering the mess in the other room. "That floor is not going to clean itself!" She moved to go.

"Really… are you that stupid?" Kyoya was leaning back in the chair, smirking at her. "If you wanted to exacerbate your injury, you shouldn't have even bothered to let me cover it."

"You're the one who forced me to sit there and get it taken care of!" Emiko exclaimed incredulously. Kyoya rolled his eyes. _How annoying. She's injured, yet she wants to use that same arm to work? Completely irrational. I don't get it. _

"Kyoya has a point," Haruhi cut in. "I can clean it up." Emiko stopped in surprise.

"No way! I can't let you do my work," she stammered and inched toward the door. "That would just be-"

"Unnecessary," Kyoya cut in, shaking his head in disapproval, "Let her do it if she's going to cause so much trouble. Just as long as she remembers that if she injures herself further, she still has to make up the work." He stood to leave. Emiko balled her fists in anger. _How annoying. He's such a heartless… computer. That's what he is! A cold, calculating computer! I just don't get him!_

They exited the room, returning to the main music room. Emiko, working hard to restrain any comments she wanted to make about Kyoya, began cleaning up the mess. Haruhi knelt beside her and helped. The others sat at the main table and planned the next few days. Watching the two girls warmed Tamaki's heart. His little girl had a new friend! Would they support each other like he wanted them to?

"Haruhi! Stop it! I've got it under control!" Emiko's hair stood on end as Haruhi dropped a fragment, nearly cutting her hand. "Don't even think about helping me! You could get hurt too!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. You worry too much," was all Haruhi said in reply, continuing to toss the broken pieces into a trash bag. Emiko paused, contemplating Haruhi's words. How true they hit home. _How nice_, she thought, resuming mopping up the spilled tea. _Someone who noticed_.

The next day: Music Room #3

"Argh! You're so annoying!"

"You're unbelievably stupid!"

"I'm not the one who made the mistake!"

"I didn't make a mistake! You're wrong! Clumsy idiot."

"That's it! You're dead!"

The hosts had opened the doors on a war.

Emiko stood, broom handle poised at Kyoya's neck. He, in turn, was clenching a pen as if it were a dagger. Fire burned in each of their eyes.

"You're so infuriating! I've never been so aggravated in my life!" Kyoya spat, raising the pen. The rest of the hosts looked back and forth at them, wide-eyed and confused.

"Oh yeah? Well I've never met someone so awfully stubborn before!" Emiko snarled back.

"Woah, woah, woah!" The twins dashed in front of Kyoya, holding him back. Honey and Mori pulled imploringly at Emiko's sleeve.

"What in the world is going on?" Tamaki exclaimed, curious at Kyoya's unusual show of rage.

"_This_ idiot made a clerical error!" Emiko jabbed her broom in Kyoya's direction.

"And as I keep telling this _nuisance_, there is _no _damnerror!" Anger and irritation still swam through Kyoya's vision, but he could feel his normal coolness begin to return to him. Being so fired up was tiring. He had never felt so annoyed. It was an interesting feeling.

"Do you need better glasses? Because there _is _an error!" Emiko seethed, only barely letting Honey and Mori pull her back. She gripped the broom tightly.

"Oh really? Well I'd recommend a brain scan for you, you-"

"Enough!" Haruhi stepped into the middle. "Both of you just cool it already! Kyoya senpai, calm down! I've never seen you so worked up before. And Emiko, fighting won't fix this," she kept her hands raised.

"Daddy's so proud!" Tamaki suddenly cheered, stretching Haruhi's cheeks and grinning giddily at her. "You're so grown up! You're so responsible!" Emiko and Kyoya instantly felt the fire of their anger burn out.

"Idiot," Emiko muttered under her breath. Kyoya shot her a glare.

"Well, glad that's taken care of," Hikaru sighed, stretching. Kaoru nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, have you two settled down now?" Haruhi, extracting herself from Tamaki's overenthusiastic embrace, came to stand beside Emiko.

"I've been in control this whole time," Kyoya sniffed, straightening out his jacket.

"I knew what I was doing," Emiko dusted off her dress.

"He's the…"

"She's the…"

"Annoying one."

* * *

**Wow, chapter 7 already! I've been updating fast these past couple of days because I'm trying to make up for the fact that I'll be busy in the days to come... but fear not! Interesting things are about to happen to our dear hosts! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Y'all are the reason I keep writing ;D**


	8. The First Competition

**Glad you made it this far guys! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Enjoy!**

Things between Emiko and Kyoya did not get better. They constantly glared at each other and never cooperated. It was beginning to get tiresome for the twins. They'd liked the energy of a fight, but as the days went on it was just getting boring.

Even Tamaki had to admit that Kyoya's hostility was getting to be too much. He and Emiko never got along. It made him a little sad. He'd wanted Emiko to be part of their family. Maybe even a sister to Haruhi… but with Kyoya behaving this way… who knew what would happen? A commotion to his right startled Tamaki out of his pondering.

"And then he locked it in his briefcase!" A young girl, one of the Host Club's guests, bawled into a handkerchief. Kyoya and Haruhi were sitting beside her, trying to console the sobbing girl.

"I can talk to Administration for you," Kyoya offered kindly, showing a sweet smile. The girl sniffed.

"I-I just don't know what I'm going to do without them! Those papers had all of my answers," she hiccupped and sobbed some more into Haruhi's shoulder.

"My dear princess! I promise, on my, Tamaki Suoh's, honor, we will do everything in our power to retrieve your stolen papers!" Tamaki, on his knees, gestured grandly and smiled at her.

"T-thank you," the girl blushed and wiped away the last of her tears.

"Can we really get them back senpai?" Haruhi whispered to Kyoya.

"We'll find a way," he replied quietly, taking his cell phone out. Before he could begin dialing, Emiko approached them.

"Here," she said flatly, holding out a packet of papers to the girl. The girl looked at her with wide eyes.

"B-but how?"

"It's not a big deal," Emiko looked uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"That's incredible! How did you get them back so fast?" Haruhi looked at her in wonder, oblivious to her discomfort.

"Well… I…" She flashed back to picking the lock on the thief's briefcase. "I…"

"Oh it doesn't matter! Thank you so much! You're a life saver!" The girl jumped up and flung her arms around Emiko's shocked form.

When the rejoicing girl had left, the hosts noticed Emiko's arm.

"You've torn the bandages," Tamaki said, pointing.

"Oh, yeah… uh…" she stammered, lost for words.

"How exactly did you get those papers back? Care to explain this time?" Kyoya challenged, arms crossed.

"I…" _Trust, Emiko… trust._ "I might've picked open the briefcase, got caught, and had to threaten the guy…" she trailed off, fidgeting.

"What?" The hosts stared at her incredulously. _Great. Now they think I'm even weirder,_ she thought with a disappointed sigh.

"Cool!" Honey laughed.

"You're more interesting than we thought," the twins agreed laughing, "We like that."

"That is pretty cool," Tamaki admitted with a chuckle.

"W-" Kyoya got interrupted by a ring from his pocket. He excused himself, ignoring Emiko's glare, and exited the room.

"That's illegal," Haruhi stated blandly, not meaning anything bad by the comment. Emiko paled a little.

"So… you wouldn't… want to do anything like that?" The twins suddenly took on devilish grins.

"No way! That's the kind of thing you get in trouble for," Haruhi replied sensibly. Emiko sank her head. "But," Haruhi bit her lip in thought, "Sounds like it could be a useful skill…"

"Indeed," the twins' grins grew wider, "How about a little competition, huh?" They clapped their arms around Haruhi's shoulders.

"Competition?" Honey tilted his head in curiosity.

"Yes… whoever can master Emiko's skills first, wins," Hikaru looked slyly at the group.

"And, the losers have to do whatever the winner's want," Kaoru finished.

"Woah! Wait a minute!" Emiko held her hands up in protest. "I never said I would teach you this stuff… it's not… uh… conventional," she said lamely, "You guys shouldn't even know I can do these things!"

"Hmm… but it could come in handy someday," Tamaki thought out loud, "Okay! I accept your challenge!"

"Wait! But I-" The twins cut her off by pulling her into an embrace.

"Deal! And the scene of the crime will be…" Hikaru began. Kaoru grinned evily before he said:

"Kyoya's house!"

* * *

**How will this turn out? Such craziness! But hope you like this so far! Thanks for reading! :]**


	9. Stage One: Mission Improbable

**Chapter 9! Hope you guys enjoy this! Thanks for reading and feel free to let me know what you think :]**

The street was dark, but to Emiko it felt like giant spotlights were shining down on her and the hosts. Although they were all wearing black, to the trained thief it was like each host was wearing a bright, neon sign saying "I'm here! Catch me!" It made Emiko anxious. Still, they were being quieter than normal. She motioned for them to stop behind a tall hedge.

"Okay," she whispered to their huddled group, "This is where things get tricky."

"I'm sleepy," Honey rubbed his eyes and yawned. Mori nodded drowsily.

"Me too," Haruhi, barely awake, couldn't even protest when they all showed up at her house at 2 a.m. to drag her to the "lesson", as Tamaki called it.

"Come on men! We need to rally! This is an important life lesson!" Tamaki raised his fist in the air with a sense of grandiose purpose.

"It's a stupid idea," Haruhi grumbled.

"Aw, you're just afraid you're going to lose!" Hikaru smiled slyly.

"I don't even want to win," Haruhi yawned, exasperated.

"Shhh!" Emiko put a finger to her lips, silencing them all. It was going to be tough to get such a large group past the security guards. At least she'd been there before. She knew the layout.

Sneaking forward, she and the hosts squeezed past the first gate, careful to avoid the yawning night-guard. They continued on, following Emiko's every step. Through the bushes, behind the shed, ducking to hide from the passing guards, and over the low, concrete wall. It was practically a maze. But, to Emiko's amazement, they all stepped quietly and listened to her without question. It actually made her feel a bit proud inside. A piece of her was warmed by the thought of them being successful.

"Okay, now we need to get inside," Emiko whispered. They'd stopped by the side of the mansion, hidden among some tall trees. Emiko plucked a leather tool kit from her belt and displayed the contents for the hosts to see. Without speaking, she quietly snuck to the lowest window, the one she'd seen while inside the house, and began to pick the lock. She showed them step by step, but didn't say a word. The rest of the hosts watched with shining eyes. They were all wide awake now.

The window opened with a low creak. Wincing at the sound, the hosts climbed through the window, dropping as silently as they could to the floor. They were in the basement of the mansion. Emiko closed the window and turned to look at them all. They looked sleek and stealthy in their "thieving" outfits, and she felt extra proud at how far they'd been able to get.

"Here, find a door to open, but make sure it's not one that leads to a bedroom," she handed a set of lock-picking tools to Haruhi.

"Where are you going?" Tamaki held up one of the tools in fascination.

"I'm going to figure out another test," she said, finally coming to terms with the competition. She had actually begun to enjoy herself. _It is a little fun_, she laughed silently and slipped out of the basement, leaving the hosts to argue over who got to pick a lock first.

She snuck through the rooms, remembering where she had been on her first visit here. She hadn't meant for it to be Kyoya Ootori's house. It had just been the one she'd chosen. It was just her bad luck that landed her inside _his_ mansion.

She continued on and paused only for a second before deciding to try the upper floors. _Nothing wrong with being a little confident_, she thought, reaching the third floor.

* * *

Down in the basement:

"Agh! Hey let me try! I want to try!" Tamaki complained to the twins. They'd been hogging the tools the entire time, craftily keeping them out of Tamaki's reach.

"It's still our turn!" They grinned and resumed twisting the locked doorknob.

"Hey I want to try too!" Honey joined in.

"Yeah," Mori, leaning against a dusty bookcase, yawned.

"I'm the head of this lesson, so I want to try!" Tamaki pouted.

"Emiko's the boss, boss," Kaoru smirked at Tamaki, who just burst into quiet shouting.

"Idiots…" Haruhi sighed.

* * *

Upstairs:

_Hmm… I wonder where that demon Kyoya sleeps. Maybe he doesn't sleep. He's just such a computer that he never needs to go to bed…_

She let her thoughts wander while she tiptoed through the sparse hallways. She'd already decided that the upstairs wasn't interesting enough for the hosts to have another test. Instead, she'd decided that the servants' quarters would be the best place for a silence challenge. She'd already figured out what they would all need to do. A giddy feeling rose up inside her chest. Was this what it was like to have friends? Even if it was a little strange, this experience made her happier than she liked to admit. Happier than she'd been in a long time.

Bland-looking pictures of the Ootori family dotted the white walls. Their stern expressions reminded her of her own family portraits. Always so dull. Always so bland.

A hand suddenly reached out from behind her and grabbed her shoulder. Her scream was stifled by the person's arm. A cold, menacing laugh echoed in her ear.

"Got you."

**da-da-daaaaa... guess Emiko's not as sneaky as she thought... but that's okay, because she's still got some tricks up her sleeve ;D**

**thanks for reading!**


	10. Stage Two: Sweet Revenge

**Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! Glad you've made it this far and special thanks to my reviewers! (Y'all know who you are) ;)**

Reacting immediately, Emiko wriggled in her captor's grasp, trying to push them back. No success. They had their arms locked around her and had a tight hand over her mouth so she couldn't make a sound. Not that she'd planned on screaming. She wasn't so weak as to resort to screaming like a victim. _I'm not a victim_.

Roughly, the captor turned her around.

It was Kyoya.

He released her as soon as he saw who it was, and an instant frown appeared on his face.

"You!" Emiko scolded herself. It should've been obvious.

"Quiet. Stupid idiot," Kyoya whispered harshly. _Feels like déjà vu_, he thought mildly. "What are you doing in my house again?" Emiko rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in defiance.

"Nothing…" A muffled crash resonated up from the basement. Kyoya put a hand to his face, groaned in understanding, and looked at Emiko. The look on his face was startling. She'd seen his angry and annoyed face… but this was different.

"That bastard… I'll kill him!" Kyoya's fists were curled and irritation showed plainly. "You!" He turned on Emiko. "You went along with that _idiot_? Now I'm seriously gonna kill him!" He strode forward, planning to give Tamaki a good look at the bottom of his foot.

"Ahahahaha!" Emiko bent over laughing. She tried to be quiet about it, but the laughing just kept coming. "Oh..nohohoho… I'm.. ahaha… sorry," she wiped tears from her eyes. Kyoya stopped, staring incredulously at her.

"_What_ are you laughing at?" He felt his annoyance sputter and fade, watching her laugh was surprisingly interesting. He'd never seen her laugh like that.

"Ohoh, I'm truly sorry," she straightened up, stifling her laughs, "It's just… you must really like him huh?" Kyoya looked at her in shock.

"What do you mean?" _This girl… she's so perceptive. I don't like it. _

"Nevermind," she regained her seriousness and regarded Kyoya with a curious look. "Why don't we do something a little more interesting than just catching them?" She grinned at him, ready to put aside their hatred for each other to have a little fun with the other hosts. He looked at her, thought it over, and agreed. This was too good to pass up.

"I'm listening…"

* * *

In the basement:

"I told you not to open that door!" Haruhi whispered frantically. The twins shrugged.

"No one's coming," Hikaru began. "And it wasn't that loud," Kaoru added.

"You two fail the competition!" Tamaki charged, pointing a finger at them dramatically.

"Oh please. Boss, you're the one who screamed and jumped into Haruhi," Hikaru countered. Tamaki turned red and pouted.

"Hey, don't you think Emi-chan's taking a long time?" Honey popped in between Tamaki and the twins.

"Yeah," Mori nodded, keeping alert for any sort of sound or movement.

"Hm, yeah she has been gone a long time," Haruhi looked toward the door leading up to the first floor.

"Let's go look for her!" The twins' faces lit up in excitement. They'd been getting bored with the basement, having already mastered lock picking, they were looking for a new challenge.

"Okay, but be quiet! You too senpai!" Haruhi bit her lip in apprehension, but agreed that they should try to find Emiko. The sooner they find her, the sooner they could leave.

They all crept silently up the stairs to the first floor of the mansion. Peeking into the empty room, Haruhi led them out of the stairwell. They crouched behind a sofa. Haruhi paused, not really knowing what to do next.

"Should we split up?" She shrugged and looked at her fellow hosts.

"We'll go with Haruhi," the twins claimed quickly, shooting evil grins at Tamaki.

"Hey! No way! Not my little girl! You cretins leave her alone!" The twins stuck their tongues out at him.

"Enough you guys! I'm going this way and if any of you follow me… just don't make any noise!" She snuck out from behind the sofa and made her way to the kitchen. She heard Honey and Mori quietly slip in another direction and found Tamaki hanging on her sleeve. The twins, she saw, moved toward another staircase. _This is ridiculous_, she thought with a sigh, _but it seems to make Emiko happy. And that's a good thing to see._

"Gahh! Did you hear that?"

"No senpai…" Haruhi replied flatly.

"Augh! Did you hear _that_?" He clung to her side, fearfully looking around.

"No, there's noth-" They froze.

Standing in the doorway of the kitchen, a dark, cloaked figure blocked their path. The figure's head was covered, but a glint in the darkness revealed a long, machete-like knife. Black ooze dripped from the blade to the floor. Tamaki and Haruhi gulped.

"_Intruders… intruders… intruders! You will pay!_" A hissing voice echoed from the dark figure. It slide forward, taking phantom steps toward the two shaking hosts. They'd gone starch-white and frozen on the spot. The hissing sound increased and the figure stepped closer.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!"

* * *

"I'm getting bored," Kaoru sighed.

"Yeah, I'm tired of being so silent," Hikaru leaned against the wall.

"Let's end the game," Kaoru nodded and they stood up to find the others. They began to walk down the dark hallway. Suddenly, Hikaru tripped. But he didn't fall, rather he was flung up into the air. He dangled by his leg, held up by a rope, and swung his arms frantically.

"Hik-" Kaoru began to shout, but was just as suddenly strung up by a rope around his ankle. "Ahhh!" Both twins struggled, Hikaru trying not further hurt his arm, and Kaoru trying to refrain from screaming.

"Ah… gah… ah…oof!" Tamaki and Haruhi ran around a corner and smacked into the twins. They fell, looking dazed at the dangling twins.

"Hu-hurry and get us down!" Hikaru strained his neck to look at them.

"Gah! No time! We have to get out of here!" Tamaki panted in terror. Haruhi was panting, but not from fear, she just had to keep up with Tamaki's frantic dash.

"Quit fooling around and get us…" Kaoru trailed off as the figure rounded the corner. The black ooze continued to drip from the knife, and smoke seemed to spill from beneath the long, ragged cloak. It was something out of a nightmare. The figure floated toward them, hissing menacingly.

_That's it! I'm going to die here! What a cruel world! _Tamaki's teeth chattered and his knees shook.

_Oh my god you've got to be kidding me! I'm going to die like this?_ Hikaru gulped and tried not to let his terror show.

_Crap… this is not good… not good, not good! _Kaoru reached a hand out to Hikaru, who tried to swing closer to him.

_I wonder if there's a supermarket open this late._ Haruhi ignored Tamaki's trembling, but let him hide behind her all the same.

A light flicked on.

"GAHHHHH!" All the hosts jumped in surprise.

"What're you guys doing?" Honey bounced up to them, cake in hand. He peered at Hikaru and Kaoru's petrified forms and Tamaki's newly grayed hair.

"Haha!" The cloaked figure removed the scraggly veil and dropped the knife. It was Emiko. "Oh, I am really sorry, but I just couldn't let such an opportunity go to waste!" She laughed, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I…It was you?" Tamaki stuttered, jaw dropping. (Haruhi: duh senpai).

"Yeah," Emiko smiled and nodded, "But I didn't do it alone." She gestured at Honey, Mori and Kyoya, who'd just stepped out from behind the corner.

"B-b-but how? Why?" Tamaki looked at the others wide-eyed.

"We found Kyo-chan and Emi-chan upstairs!" Honey grinned stuffing the last piece of cake in his mouth. Mori nodded.

"Well I knew that buffoons such as yourselves would never learn anything valuable from this ridiculous intrusion, so we had to teach you a lesson," Kyoya smiled at Tamaki's now rising soul. Haruhi reached up and slammed it back into his body.

"And when Mori and Honey senpai found us talking about it, they offered to set up the ropes," Emiko smiled cheerily.

"Hah, hah, very funny… you've had your laugh now get us down," Hikaru pouted at having been tricked.

"I wasn't even scared," Kaoru lied, as Mori undid the rope around his ankle.

"You screamed," Haruhi pointed out bluntly.

"Did not!" The twins, now upright, sniffed indifferently.

"So…" Tamaki, coming back to life, looked between Emiko and Kyoya. "Does this mean you two have stopped fighting?" Emiko peeked at Kyoya from the corner of her vision. Kyoya crossed his arms.

"I was never fighting," Kyoya and Emiko began in unintended unison. "I was right…"

"And she…

"And he…"

"Was wrong."

Tamaki withered again. _Dear god this is never going to end…_

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Review if you'd like (it keeps me writing)!**

**Character Corner:**

**Emiko:**

**5 ft. 5 **

**Long and wavy burgundy hair**

**Dark brown eyes**

**110 lbs**

**Capricorn **

**Has a special interest in martial arts and cleaning (thanks to her maids)**

**Brought up as a perfect young lady, but doesn't mind throwing a punch when necessary**

**Hasn't had a boyfriend...**

**... yet... ;]**


	11. An Explanation and Sudden Vacation

**Once again... I'm uploading ridiculously fast... *high fives face* but it's only to compensate for my nonexistence during the weeks! Anyway, thanks to everyone, especially those of you who've reviewed! **

* * *

"Heeeeeeeee-ya!" Tamaki kicked the can high into the air. The other hosts raced for a hiding spot. Hikaru and Kaoru sprinted off, grabbing Honey and Mori along with them. Haruhi and Emiko dashed for the nearest hedges.

"Ha… ha…ha…" they both huffed and squatted discretely behind the lush greenery. Once they'd caught their breath, Haruhi and Emiko settled down, knowing that Tamaki would take forever to find them.

"This'll take a while," Haruhi smiled, brushing a bit of dirt off her blue blazer.

"He's bound to find us someday," Emiko nodded, pulling at her canary-yellow dress. She'd never liked it and constantly wanted to tear it off, unfortunately for her, doing so would most likely result in a visit to the principal's office, which was something her parents would never allow.

"So," Haruhi interrupted her thoughts, "Why an origami rose?"

"I…" Emiko paused, wondering why Haruhi could be so nice to her, "It's something that same maid taught me," she explained. "I never had many friends as a child, and there wasn't much one could do in a big mansion, so my maids would spend time with me. They taught me all sorts of things, from cleaning to sewing, but only one maid ever taught me how to do something unexpected…" she trailed off, biting her lip.

"The origami rose is a symbol of her past, and when she taught me how to fold it, she said that it could represent anything I wanted…" Emiko poked at the grass hesitantly, "I leave it behind in place of what I steal to show that I was there. Even if it's insignificant and no one ever notices the change, I'll know." She finished, hoping that Haruhi wouldn't look down on her.

"That's pretty cool," Haruhi hugged her knees, "But why candles and teacups and small things? We're all actually all a little stumped about that," she asked with a laugh.

"Oh, well I'm no Robin Hood," Emiko smiled in return, "I don't want to steal anything valuable… it's more like I'm proving that I can do it… that I can get in and out without anyone noticing…" Emiko paused, a sudden thought making her heart pound in worry, "Oh you must think I'm such a spoiled brat…" she sighed miserably.

"No not at all," Haruhi began, "You're actually really incredible. So don't worry about being spoiled… you're not like-" she was cut off by Tamaki pouncing on her and squeezing her cheeks.

"Got you! Daddy's got you!"

"Like him…" Haruhi managed to say flatly, before being smothered by an embrace.

"Hey, what's with the "daddy" thing?" Emiko tilted her head in wonder, surprised that she hadn't asked sooner.

"You really don't want to kno-" Haruhi was cut off again by Kyoya and the rest of the hosts squeezing in beside them behind the hedge.

"Yes, I have to be the "mommy"," Kyoya said, voice monotone and a flush of embarrassment rising in his chest.

"It's our family," Tamaki, who'd come to his senses, brushed his hair from his eyes. "Haruhi is my little girl!" He squeezed her cheeks and threw a winning smile at Kyoya. "He's the mom, the twins are the annoying little brats, and Honey and Mori are our cousins…" (Honey and Mori: …. C-o-u-s-i-n-s?)

"Hey! You're the annoying one boss!" The twins sang, dodging Tamaki's flailing arms of indignation.

"And hey…" Tamaki stopped flailing, becoming suddenly serious again, "You could be a part of our family too…" He smiled sweetly at her. "You're always welcome."

_Ba-dum… what is this feeling? Ba-dum… it's everywhere… I feel so… so… happy._

Emiko was lost for words. She felt as if she was going to cry and laugh at the same time. It was a strange feeling… she didn't know if she liked it or not.

"T-that would be…" she murmured softly, "Amazing."

* * *

Music Room #3:

"Oh Kyoya! You're so smart!" The girls twittered and giggled.

"T-tamaki? I…" Tamaki put a finger to the girl's lips.

"Hush princess… right now it's only you a me…" The girl nearly fainted out of happiness.

"Let's play… the which one is Hikaru game!" The twins grinned at the cheering group of girls.

"Takashi! Takashi! Catch me!" Honey's bubbly laugh made the girls' hearts melt.

"Awww… look at them together! It's so adorable!" The girls all had hearts shining in their eyes.

"Haruhi! Would you like to eat this cake?" The girl held out a beautifully decorated sweet.

"Sure! But we should share it, don't you think?" Haruhi asked with a friendly smile. The girl blushed and nodded

"Huff," Emiko sank to her knees behind a wall. This is more work than I thought, she brushed her hair back. Who knew hosts could be so messy? She'd just finished hauling the used and dirty dishes to the kitchen staff and had wiped up the spilled tea. What slobs, she thought with a sigh. Remaining seated, she pulled a crumpled pamphlet out of her apron pocket.

"Free spa trip? How interesting," she flipped through the pages. She'd received the offer at the commoners' market, a place she was beginning to love. Ever since Haruhi had moved up, Emiko was the one buying ridiculous amounts of instant coffee. A spa… she hadn't been to one since she was ten.

"Would you like to go there?" A voice startled her out of her musing. Kyoya loomed over her, arms crossed.

"What? Oh no, no I mean my family belongs to a private spa… I just.. I was thinking of how I haven't been there in a while," Emiko stammered, annoyed at being caught off guard.

"It wouldn't be bad to take a little vacation," Kyoya examined his nails casually. "We'll go," he added with a calculating look.

"A vacation? Where?" Honey poked his head around the corner.

"Vacation?" Tamaki came up with Haruhi.

"Yes," Kyoya nodded.

"Oooh! Where are we going?" The twins tossed their hats to the ground. (Emiko: hey! I have to pick those up!)

"A spa trip," Kyoya replied.

"Ah no! This seems a little sudden… doesn't it?" Emiko said flustered, not wanting them to go on account of her.

"Don't complain," Kyoya pushed up his glasses, "Since you're our maid… you have no choice but to go," he added with a wide smile. Irritation glinted in Emiko's eyes.

"Yay! Emi-chan! We're going on a trip!" Honey bounced in happiness, dissolving the tension.

"Yeah… guess we are," Emiko said reluctantly.

"This should be fun," Tamaki smiled, looking at his hosts knowingly.

Haruhi: "Oh joy…"

* * *

**Wouldn't you love to be Renge? I mean... you could just pay for someone to film your favorite books or mangas... how awesome would that be? Then you could have all the obscure mangas that never turn into animes get an animated version.. sigh.. **

**She hasn't made an appearance yet, but we'll see... *eyes glint slyly***

**p.s. I've written this from the English standpoint... with the English name spellings and all... because... well because I like to make my life easier... *apologizes***


	12. Relaxation, Or is it?

**Oh geez... I'm sorry guys... this chapter is looooonnnnnggggg... but it is worth it! (I think)... *crickets*... anyway, you reviewers keep me going! Thanks a bunch and I really appreciate it!**

* * *

Steam rose gently from the swirling water. Its soft bubbling and gushing invited the hosts warmly. Exotic flowers and decorations fused nicely with the traditional Japanese theme. It was beautiful. The hosts' eyes all shone with excitement.

"This is huge," Haruhi looked wide-eyed at the spa resort.  
"It's actually pretty small for a spa," Hikaru said with a yawn. (Haruhi: small?)

"Yeah, our other one is bigger," Kaoru explained, "But it's under construction." (Haruhi: other one?)

"This looks like mine," Emiko said wistfully. (Haruhi: _Yours_!? Damn these rich people!)

"Ah, excuse me sirs and madams," A soft-spoken woman appeared before them. "We have your rooms ready and the spa is open."

"Oh thanks," the hosts followed her down a wide hallway. Other guests poked their heads out and stared at the unexpected group.

"How gorgeous!"

"Those young men are really attractive!"

"Wow, look at them!"

Whispers and excited murmurs resonated throughout the spa. The hosts ignored them and followed the woman into a suite. Five halls indicated further rooms.

"Oh wow!" Honey, flowers popping up around his face, jumped excitedly onto the cushions in the middle of the floor. "How neat!"

"Feel free to use the spa as soon as you are settled," the woman bowed and exited, leaving the hosts.

"H-a-r-u-h-i…" the twins sang mischievously, "Come sleep in our room!"

"No way," Haruhi replied straight-faced.

"Aw, c'mon," the twins wrapped their arms around her. (Haruhi: no.)

"Augh! Never you little demons! Stay away from my little girl!" Tamaki shook his fists at them.

"Don't be jealous," Hikaru stuck his tongue out. "We just have a connection," Kaoru hugged Haruhi closer. Steam shot from Tamaki's ears and his face turned red.

"Hey Haruhi," Emiko said, looking at the scene, "We can share a room, since there's only five rooms."

"Ok," Haruhi extracted herself from the twins and Tamaki. The two girls wandered off together.

_Blip.. blip…blip_… "Ahh they're so cute! How adorable!" Tamaki nearly melted, hands on the side of his face and eyes shining with tears.

"Tsch," was all Kyoya said in response, jotting a note down in his notebook.

"Hmm… if they're sharing a room already," Hikaru began slyly. "Why don't we join them?" Kaoru finished with a grin.

"WHAT?! Never!" Tamaki ran after the twins. "Stay away from my little girllllllsssss!…"

* * *

"Come on, why don't you spend some time with us, huh?" The guy had his arm way to close for Emiko's liking.

"No thanks," she tried to be polite, but the guy was being really persistent.

"Oh come on, you and your friend should come with us," he leaned closer to Emiko, face inches from hers. _How annoying_, she thought. He brought his arm around her waist, pulling her even closer.

"Hey! Leave her alone," Haruhi glared, about to throw herself between them. They were at the open lobby of the spa, just about to head to the water when the guys had stopped them.

"But she's so cute," the guy leaned even closer. Fire sparked in Emiko's eyes. Without blinking she twisted the guy's hand and slammed him to the ground. Other guests looked on in surprise.

"Heh," Emiko looked at the guy with disdain, "You should've listened… Come on Haruhi, let's go."

"Hey! Wait a minu-" the companions of the guy on the floor moved to stop them.

"Is there a problem here?" Two voices echoed from behind the guys' backs. The twins, eyes starry with menace, gripped their shoulders.

"It seems we have some idiots here," Honey sneered, surprisingly out of character.

"Idiots," Mori nodded, eyes narrowed.

"You should know," Hikaru said, hands happily patting a bat, "That we," Kaoru continued, looking causally at a crowbar, "Will show no mercy to those who bother us…" They grinned menacingly at the small group of guys, whose faces had gone gray.

"Enough, just kick them out," Kyoya said drearily. "And be sure to let them know that we do have over two dozen specially trained, highly armed operatives ready, should there be any problems," he smiled at the guys, who shook at his words. "But there won't be any problems, will there?" He crossed his arms, eyes harsh and mouth smiling. _Oh man, this guy gets joy out of this_… Emiko thought with a huff.

"O-okay! S-sorry!" The group of guys scrambled to leave, grabbing their fallen friend and dashing out the front lobby.

"Tsk… What a bother," Tamaki, who'd been silent that whole time, stood next to Kyoya. "But you were incredible Emiko," he laughed in relief.

"Yeah! You're strong Emi-chan!" Honey had returned to his normally cheerful self.

"It was a stupid move," Kyoya cut in with a smirk. "You should've just waited for us to join you before acting so rashly…" Emiko curled her fists in irritation.

"Ah well, whatever, let's go to the springs," Kyoya yawned, stretched and walked away, leaving Emiko fuming and Haruhi trying to calm her down.

_ Does he want me to hit him?_

* * *

Later that evening:

"Oh…" Emiko smacked her hand to her forehead. Stupid. She'd forgotten her suitcase in the main room. In all her excitement, she and Haruhi had rushed to the hot springs and left their stuff by the door. Then, she'd taken a bath. But hadn't realized she'd left her clothes in the main room. Now she stood there, covered by only a towel, contemplating the tricky situation. Haruhi was currently in the bath, and Emiko knew she would need her bag too, but what was the risk of dashing into the main room, grabbing their stuff, and running back? Surely everyone is in their rooms or the bath right now. Right?

Haruhi would only have a towel too. Emiko had looked desperately for two robes, but they'd already thrown them in the laundry chute after the hot springs.

There was no noise coming from the main room… and the lights were off. Risk it? Risk it.

Bracing herself, she peeked around her door. Nothing. She saw their bags sitting by the side of a futon. Holding her towel taut, she made a dash for the bags.

_Ooof!_ She slammed into something. She crashed to the floor and felt something heavy fall on top of her. The heavy thing groaned.

"Agh… watch where you're-" It was Kaoru. She could tell by the part in his hair and his voice. He'd frozen as soon as he'd looked at her. He stared down at her, quite aware that she was covered by a towel and currently underneath him. His cheeks blushed and burned.

"What are you doing!?" She demanded. "There was no one in the room!"

"I was coming to turn the light on and call you guys for dinner!" He exclaimed, cheeks still flushed. "What are _you_ doing?"

"Haruhi and I don't have our suitcases," she said, voice muffled by his heaviness. "Can you please get off me?"

"Kaoru? I-" Hikaru stopped dead, eyes wide. "What…" he froze, looking at them, hair still dripping from his own bath.

"Gah!" Kaoru blushed even more. "It's not what it looks like!"

"What what looks like?" Tamaki and Kyoya peeked out from the hallway. "Hey! You awful pervert! Get away from Emiko!" Tamaki rolled up his sleeves, ready to haul Kaoru away.

"All of you go away!" Emiko shouted in exasperation, "I need to get up," she pushed Kaoru away from her. Kaoru, face still red, looked sheepishly at Hikaru.

"Now everyone go away!" Emiko repeated, desperately wanting to just get her and Haruhi's bags and run.

"Oh how terrible! My poor, sweet Emiko being abused by this lowly pervert!" Tamaki put his hand to his head and leaned heavily on Kyoya. Kyoya rolled his eyes.

"I'm so sorry Emiko," Kaoru blushed again, "But hey! I'm not a pervert, you pervert!" He shouted at Tamaki.

"It's okay," Emiko laughed, still clutching the towel to her, "I should've remembered the suitcases before." Kaoru gave her a relieved smile, his red face disappearing.

"Aren't you the least bit embarrassed?" Kyoya asked coolly.

"Huh?"

"You are in a towel, and had a guy fall on top of you, yet you're not the least bit embarrassed by it," Kyoya pointed out, confusion and annoyance swirling within him. For some reason he didn't like how close Emiko and Kaoru had been. _She's just so annoying!_ He thought with a frown. _Not even blushing! Irritating…_

"He has a point…" Tamaki, suddenly thoughtful, bit his lip. "In fact, I don't think we've ever seen you be truly embarrassed… you've never blushed once…" Emiko could practically see the gears turning in his head.

"Are you thinking…" Hikaru began, "What I'm thinking?" Kaoru, in a better mood, grinned at Emiko and Tamaki, who thought about it.

"First one to make Emiko blush wins!" They cheered.

Their eyes glinted with the spirit of competition.

"Game on!"

* * *

**Another competition huh? Sounds entertaining! This was a tough chapter to write... mostly because I wanted to include so much! Gah! But I promise the next chapters won't be so long and wordy :D**

**thanks for reading! **

**P.S. hey you... yeah you... you're awesome... keep that up ;]**


	13. The Second Competition

**Hey thanks for reading! And tell me why all you reviewers are so cute?! Adorable... but, in all seriousness, what you guys say really means a lot to me... so thanks :)**

* * *

"Hey Emiko! Come here and fix this will you?" Hikaru sat on the futon, shirtless and fiddling with a loose string on his shirt.

"What's wrong?" Emiko knelt beside him, taking the shirt in her hands.

*Gah-loomph!*

Emiko was suddenly pushed straight into Hikaru. She felt something heavy on her back. Kaoru.

"Oh Kaoru," Hikaru brought Kaoru's face closer to his, with Emiko squashed between the two twins.

"Hikaru…" Their faces were inches from each other, and both had their shirts off. Emiko tried to squirm out of the way, but their arms kept her locked in place.

"Nice try…" she said, voice muffled by Hikaru's shoulder. "But I'm not going to blush over something as ridiculous as this."

"What do you mean?" Hikaru and Koaru looked at her innocently.

"Pah…" she managed to escape their brotherly love and looked at them with her hands on her hips. "Like I said, nice try…" She stuck her tongue out at them and walked away.

The two embracing brothers looked at each other.

"Kaoru…" Hikaru said thoughtfully, "That usually works on most girls…" Kaoru nodded.

"What a mystery," they concluded, and shrugged.

* * *

"Hey, they left some clean towels for…" Emiko trailed off. Tamaki looked at her through his hair. Soft candlelight lit the room and he stepped close to her, dressed elegantly in princely clothing.

"Never mind," she said abruptly and turned to leave.

"Hold on," Tamaki said, "Princess…" Emiko looked at him blankly. He knelt down and produced a rose for her, holding it up.

"Don't you think someone as lovely as yourself needs to be appreciated?" He chuckled softly. "Why, you're more radiant that the shining stars! More enticing than the sweetest smelling flower! You are…" Emiko, face set, stuck two fingers out and pushed Tamaki over. He deflated like a popped balloon.

"Wahh! Hey!" He cried incredulously. She waved away his protesting and walked out.

* * *

"Isn't this good Emi-chan?" Honey smiled endearingly at her. Emiko nodded. The food was delicious at the spa. Decadent plates of traditional Japanese food were mixed with fancy western dishes. It was incredible. Haruhi was practically in a trance with all the luxurious food.

"This is good!" Emiko agreed with a grin.

"Here Mitsukuni," Mori held out a piece of cake for Honey. Honey's eyes lit up.

"Oh thanks Takashi!" He bit down on the cake. Crumbs went flying.

"Your face…" Mori bent closer to Honey and wiped at the crumbs with a napkin. Flowers practically bloomed between them. The room turned hazy and sparkled. Emiko groaned.

"Not you guys too!"

"Wha?" Honey tilted his head in fake-confusion.

"Here," Hikaru tugged Emiko closer, "You can try this." He held a cookie in his mouth and brought it closer to hers. (Haruhi: why do I have déjà vu?)

"You demons! I'll win this!" Tamaki charged, standing. "Emiko, earlier today I found this!" He held up a pair of tongs, holding them far away from him and looking embarrassed himself. Clamped between the tongs were a pair of Emiko's underwear.

"Oh how embarrassed you must feel over everyone seeing this!" Tamaki dramatically sighed.

"Hey! Give those back!" She lunged for them, willing herself not to blush. She managed to stay straight-faced and snatched the article away from Tamaki.

"Gosh boss…" the twins grinned, "What are you? Some kind of pervert?" They cackled as Tamaki turned red.

"Wahh! Emiko I'm sorrryyyyy…." He sniffed, a bump on his head swelling, "I was just trying to win…" (Haruhi: what a bunch of idiots…)

(Emiko: heh… why do I feel so exhausted?)

* * *

The moon shone brightly that night. The air was clear and the steam from the hot springs made everything warm and soft. It was a peaceful place. Yet, Emiko could not fall asleep. She and Haruhi had escaped from dinner and gone to bed, but sleep had yet to visit Emiko. She listened to Haruhi's quiet breathing for a while, hoping it would lull her to sleep. It didn't.

With a sigh, Emiko silently got up and left the room. She padded lightly to the balcony off the main room. Maybe some fresh air will clear my head, she thought. She pushed open the screen and stepped onto the wooden deck. A soft breeze rustled the leaves below. Kyoya stood there, leaning against the rail, looking out into the night. _Oh great_… Emiko thought, but knew she couldn't sneak away since he'd already heard her. She went to stand beside him.

"Can't sleep?" She asked, crossing her arms over the railing.

"Something like that," he replied quietly. "This is a beautiful spa," he added.

"Mm-hmm," she replied, gazing at the moon's reflection on the water.

"You're a really strange girl," he continued, (Emiko: is that an insult?) "I just can't figure you out," he shook his head and chuckled, turning to face her.

"Why do you do the things you do?" She turned to him and he gazed into her eyes.

"I… ah…" she couldn't find an answer. The breeze blew lazily and swept her hair into her face. He lifted a hand and brushed it back. _What is he doing? I… no…_ Kyoya, the hint of a smile on his lips, tilted her head up and closer to his. She felt heat rush to her cheeks. _No!_

He brought his face closer. _Ba-dum._ She couldn't move. Her legs felt like concrete. _Ba-dum_. She felt heat and electricity race through her veins. _Ba-dum_. They were centimeters apart. _Ba-dum._

"Heh," he smirked, "Idiot." And released her.

* * *

**Oh Kyoya... what a jerk huh? But we love him... anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what y'all think ;D**

***points at reader* - stay classeh **


	14. Jealousy

**Hey everyone! So first of all: thank you... you guys and your reviews are sooo awesome (and adorable!) I can't believe how cute y'all are ;D anyway, I really appreciate it and enjoy chapter 14!**

"Hey Kyoya, what happened to your face?" Tamaki looked at his friend curiously.

"Nothing of importance," Kyoya said mildly, touching the bruise on his cheek. "Except," he looked triumphantly at Emiko, who was concentrating intently on eating breakfast. "I won."

"WHAT?!" Tamaki and the twins gasped in shock. Kyoya pushed up his glasses and smiled innocently.

"B-but I thought you weren't playing?" Tamaki sniffed at the betrayal.

"No fair, no fair!" The twins sang.

"Well, I figured I might as well prove my superiority," Kyoya chuckled.

"It didn't count!" Emiko fumed from her spot. "It was dark and you couldn't see anything, so it doesn't count!"

"Did you hit him Emi-chan?" Honey questioned, poking Kyoya's cheek. (Kyoya: hey ow!).

"No!... Maybe… well he deserved it!" She huffed and turned her back on him.

"Wow she really got you on that one huh?" The twins looked at the purple and black bruise, glad it hadn't happened to them.

"Who can say?" Kyoya replied breezily, confident of his victory. "Although, with this kind of wound I'd say an additional five hours will be added to your time of service," he smiled the smile of a devil, very pleased with himself, and got up to pack.

"That's it…" Emiko muttered, nearly cracking the table in half, "He's dead… he's a dead man!" The flames flickered in her eyes and she leapt up, fist raised in the air.

"No Emiko! Don't do it!" Hikaru clung to her waist, holding her back.

"Restraint! Restraint!" Kaoru pleaded, also pulling her back.

"Just one hit! Just one!"

* * *

Back at Ouran: the next day in Music Room #3…

"Aw c'mon Kyoya! You have to tell us how you did it!" Tamaki whined into Kyoya's ear.

"Logical reasoning," Kyoya replied matter-of-factly.

"B-o-r-i-n-g…" the twins put their thumbs down, not satisfied with Kyoya's response.

"Well, it's obvious why none of you won," Kyoya began, turning away from his laptop, "You all took the wrong approach." The rest of the hosts, besides Haruhi, looked at him intently, prepared to take notes.

"You tried to make her blush through your normal means, which would have never worked on her," he pushed his glasses up, "For instance, Honey and Mori tried their strong and adorable pairing on her, but she's too serious for that. Tamaki, you tried to impress her through your prince-like charm, yet she is far too level-headed to be interested in such romance…" Kyoya sighed at Tamaki's crestfallen face, "Nevertheless, the only ones who could have had a chance were the twins and Haruhi. (Haruhi: me?)" The twins looked at each other and shrugged.

"Yes, Haruhi would have been the winner if she had participated. Due to Emiko's lack of female companions her age, an endearing comment or praise from Haruhi would have finished the game; however, because Haruhi didn't play, the twins were the second best (Hikaru and Kaoru: second best? Hey!). But, they did not win due to one major flaw in their plan: Emiko is comfortable around bare skin and close contact. This makes sense since she's had training in martial arts, but it is one factor that hadn't actually occurred to me until she was unmoved by your brotherly love," Kyoya took a breath, enjoying revealing his analysis.

"So, it looked like there would not be a winner. Therefore, I decided to perform a little test," he smiled, glasses glinting, as the rest of the hosts all looked at him, amazed and a little frightened of his calculating abilities.

"But Kyoya senpai…" Haruhi looked at him through chocolate, brown locks, "What did you do?" Everyone nodded, wondering how on earth he could've won the competition.

"…" he looked at them all and smirked knowingly, "Shall we open the Club now?"

* * *

Class room #20:

"I heard she even went on an expensive trip with them!"

"The nerve of that girl!"

"She's not even special! Why does she spend so much time with them?"

"How dare she?! Does she think she's better than us? Getting all that alone time…"

Emiko sat alone, waiting for class to end. It was almost 3:00; the Host Club would be starting soon. She knew she would have to run to change.

"Hey! Minami," a girl with two long pig-tails strode up to her desk. "Why are you spending so much time with the Host Club?" Other girls crowded around Emiko's desk.

"Yeah! You're not so special that you get to be alone with them all the time!" Emiko kept her eyes down, fists curled into balls. _I bet I'll have to clean up more of those stupid rose petals_.

"Aren't you listening?" _I wonder what theme it'll be today_.

"Minami… are you dumb? You must be, since the Hosts would only hang out with you out of pity…" the girl with pig-tails sneered confidently at her. _Don't listen._

"How sad," another girl remarked, leaning on Emiko's desk, "Such an ugly girl spending so much time with the Hosts…" _Don't respond._

"What a worthless person…" _Do. Not. Respond. _Emiko's arms and shoulders shook. With a start, Emiko stood up from her desk, looked levelly at the girls', and forced herself to calmly walk out of the room.

In the hall, a painful feeling began to well up in Emiko's chest. It felt like the walls were going to swallow her up. It hurt. Not able to stand it anymore, Emiko ran.

She ran, huffing and blinking back tears. The painful feeling didn't go away. It kept following her. She was going to be crushed.

She had to run faster.

* * *

**Ok, I had to show the consequences of hanging out with the Host Club... It sucks.. but fear not! Emiko's strong and this only sets the stage for future events *raises eyebrows* **

**also: so, I uploaded last night and almost immediately there were two beautiful new reviews... y'all make me feel so happy! I absolutely can't thank you all enough! *attempts to squeeze reader's cheeks* **reader runs away**... **

***come backkkkk!* **


	15. Hero Act

**Hey everyone! Chapter 15 just for you! Hope you enjoy this and let me know what you think ;D**

"Ha… ha… ha…" Emiko kneeled, panting hard. She'd run for what seemed like forever. The pain in her chest stung, but she could feel it fading. Such hate… she'd never felt that before. It unnerved and frightened her. What was really shocking was that she'd let all of their words make her so afraid. She'd always thought she had a hard exterior that no one could break. _Not anymore_, she thought with a discouraged sigh.

Sitting up, she finally took in her surroundings. She was in the Ouran gardens. Lush bushes full of flowers and soft green grass calmed her heaving shoulders. It was a peaceful place.

A sharp snap made her jump. From around a hedge came a tall, very solemn looking Mori. His expression didn't change when he saw her. She looked at him and he looked at her. His dark eyes seemed to be assessing the situation, reading her. Embarrassment crept up her neck, but she willed it back down, gulping as her breathing finally returned to normal.

"What are you doing here?" She asked at last, feeling her courage return to her. Mori looked at her silently. "Why isn't Honey-senpai with you?" Again Mori remained silent. Instead, he knelt down alongside her. He held out a hand, eyes looking knowingly into hers. Emiko looked down in shame. How could she have let such superficial words get to her? Wasn't she stronger than that? Tears stung the back of her eyes, but she knew she couldn't cry. She wouldn't let herself.

Mori placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, forcing the tears to disappear.

"Come on," he said, voice deep and mellow, and tinged with the sadness of understanding. "Let's go back."

* * *

Music Room #3:

Irritation was written all over Kyoya's normally unreadable face. He gripped his notebook tightly and sat rigidly, glaring at the door. It was now 4:00; Emiko was late. What nerve, he thought with a snort. _Idiot probably got into trouble or a fight…_ he shook his head in annoyance.

Just then the door swung open. Mori led Emiko by the hand, pulling her gently into the room. The look on Emiko's face made Kyoya stop. It was one of relief, but he could tell something darker was on her mind. It was puzzling.

"There you are Takashi! And you found Emi-chan!" Honey cheered loudly.

"Where were you? We were wondering if something had happened to you," Tamaki nodded, brushing away a feather from his elaborate Shakespearian costume.

"I…" Emiko glanced at Mori who remained silent, releasing her hand, "I'm fine," she said quickly, giving them a smile. "Just got a bit turned around in the gardens," she added with a laugh.

"Oh wow Emi-chan! You're shoes and dress are muddy! Are you sure you're okay?" Honey, playing the oblivious captain obvious, inspected her torn hem and scuffed and dirty shoes.

"Oh…um… ah," Emiko stammered.

"Whatever the cause, you're late," Kyoya cut in sharply, saving Emiko from having to respond.

"Kyoya senpai! Try to be a little nicer!" Haruhi shook her head at him, taking Emiko by the arm and leading her to the changing room.

"That _was_ me being nice," he muttered, before turning back to his notebook.

* * *

Later that evening:

The Host Club had stayed open much later than Haruhi and Emiko had thought. Tons of customers had filtered in, taking up much of the hosts' time. Most of the girls had been indifferent toward Emiko, but a few shot her some obvious glares. Emiko had tried her best to ignore it. It had been a tiring day.

Emiko and Haruhi walked silently down the road. The evening was cool and calm, and even though Haruhi had walked home alone countless times, Emiko had been persistent. She knew she could have just called a car for the two of them, but it seemed better to walk. She liked walking with Haruhi.

They made their way slowly down the street. Darkness had fallen much quicker than they had expected, but together they felt safe. Haruhi was just about to mention her concern over Emiko's earlier state when three figures loomed in front of them, having stepped out from a side alley.

The figures were men, tough looking with squared shoulders. They had menacing looks in their eyes and their mouths were curled in mean grins. Emiko and Haruhi stopped, realizing their unfortunate situation. One of the men pulled out a knife.

"Don't you think it's a little late to be walking home alone, kids?" He laughed harshly, taking a step. Emiko glared at him, putting an arm protectively in front of Haruhi.

"Don't you think adults have better things to do than torment innocent students?" Emiko retorted, carefully watching the two other guys.

"Just hand over your money, little girl," the guy replied, gripping the knife harder. "And don't try to protect such a girly boy, he's not worth your time… Come hang with us!" The guys behind him laughed.

"Leave her alone," Haruhi said calmly, staring at the guys. "You should just walk away. This doesn't need to happen." Inside she wasn't worried for herself, rather, Emiko's wellbeing and protection were all she could think about.

Emiko, on the other hand, wanted to protect Haruhi. Unfortunately, Haruhi's comment only made the guys angrier. The one with the knife took a long stride, eyes targeting Haruhi. With quick movements, Haruhi began to pull Emiko back, attempting to put herself between Emiko and the attacker.

_Oh no you don't!_ Emiko, realizing what Haruhi was doing, lunged forward, putting herself right between Haruhi and the knife.

_Like I'm really going to lose you_, she thought grimly; before feeling the sting of the blade.

* * *

**So my friends... this might be the end...**

**just kidding- ack don't be mad! ;] **

**anyway, hope you liked this... little hint: this starts a wholeeee chain of events! **

**thanks for reading and reviewing you lovely people! (have I told you how happy and bubbly your reviews make me feel?!) **


	16. The Hospital

"Hello is this Mr. Tamaki Suoh? Yes, well…"

"Mr. Mitsukuni Haninozuka? We're calling to inform you…"

"Mr. Takashi Morinozuka? We're sorry to say…"

"Ah, Mr. Hitachiin? This is a notification for both of you…"

"Mr. Kyoya Ootori correct? We were given your name for…"

* * *

Central Commoner's Hospital – 9:10 PM, Room 17B:

Haruhi sat slumped in a chair. The events of the night replaying though her head. It had almost been a blur, but she was certain of at least two facts. One, Emiko had saved her. Two, now, because of Haruhi, Emiko was lying in a hospital bed. _It's not your fault_. A part of her wanted to believe that. What kind of friend was she? She let Emiko get hurt instead. Guilt and disappointment surged through Haruhi's slumped frame.

"Gah… ah…H-Haruhi!" Tamaki and the rest of the hosts burst into the room, flinging back the room curtain. They all rushed up to the bed, panting and sweating from a mixture of fear and relief.

"H-h-how…" Hikaru gasped for air, "Is she?" Kaoru finished, breathing just as heavily.

"What happened?" Kyoya cut in.

"She… she's okay," Haruhi reassured them, gesturing at Emiko's sleeping form. A large bandage covered her left cheek and a similar one on her left shoulder peaked out of her thin hospital gown.

"We were walking home and some guys stopped us," Haruhi explained, pushing down the guilt she felt. "Emiko tried to get them to leave, but when one pulled out a knife…she… she saved me by pushing me out of the way…" Haruhi trailed off, wondering how someone could ever do that for her.

"How did you both end up here?" Tamaki tried to hide his worry.

"Oh… well, when Emiko pushed me out of the way, she got scratched on her cheek first… but then got really furious and broke the guy's arm and knocked the other two unconscious…" Haruhi bit her lip in thought, "I guess she must've gotten cut on her shoulder while she was fighting them…I was finally able to call the police and they sent us here. Emiko's okay, really, they just wanted to make sure…" Haruhi offered them all a small, tired smile.

"Thank goodness," Tamaki breathed a sigh of relief, arm draped over Haruhi's shoulders.

"Scary…" was all Honey could say. Mori nodded in agreement.

"Emiko's really brave," Kaoru patted her limp arm, "Yeah but it is a little scary," Hikaru shrugged.

"What. An. Idiot." Kyoya trembled with rage. His fists shook and he kept his head down, not wanting the others to see the look on his face.

"K-kyoya?" Tamaki moved to put a hand on his arm, but Kyoya jerked away. Turning abruptly, he flung the curtain out of the way and walked out, leaving all of the hosts staring after him in shock and confusion.

* * *

11:05 PM, Room 17B:

"Gah!" Emiko sat up with a gasp, bringing a hand immediately to her cheek. She winced when she felt a sting from her shoulder. What had just happened? _Oh right…_ she thought, memories of a knife and breaking bones flooding her senses. Now… where was she? She looked at the bed and felt the coarse hospital nightgown. _Oh… right…_

"So you're awake?" A voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked over, startled. In a chair by a darkened window sat Kyoya. He had his arms folded and his legs crossed. He looked more disheveled than usual. _Odd,_ Emiko thought, though not dwelling too much on it.

"Why're you here? Where's Haruhi? Is she okay? Why am I still in the hospital? Why did Haruhi let me sleep so long? Shouldn't I have been released by now?" The rush of questions spilled out of Emiko's mouth before she could stop. Kyoya rolled his eyes and stood up, coming to sit on the edge of her bed.

"Haruhi and the other's went to ask the nurse when you can go home," he said calmly.

"The others?" Emiko asked. Kyoya nodded.

"We've notified your parents and they're sending a car…" he continued, and then paused, glancing out the window, "The doctors wanted to let you sleep off the shock…"

"But I'm not in shock!" Emiko protested, wanting to get out of the hospital and not have people needlessly worry about her. At this Kyoya laughed. But it wasn't a happy laugh. It was cold and harsh.

"You complete idiot," his hands curled into fists again, "How can you be so damn stupid? And not just that! Irritating! You really…" He stopped, pulling his anger into check. "You've got to stop doing things like this," he finally said, head down.

"I was protecting Haruhi!" Emiko said defensively, eyes narrowing in rising annoyance.

"_You _were being _stupid_!" Kyoya snarled through gritted teeth, eyes finally meeting hers. They shone with intense anger, but Emiko saw something else as well. Worry.

"It's fine," she said quietly, eyes avoiding his, "I'm not hurt badly. Haruhi is safe."

"Don't you get it?" Kyoya brought a hand to his face, trying to calm the mix of confusing emotions swirling within him. "You have to start trusting other people. You can't fix everything." Emiko looked away, annoyance and embarrassment rising in her chest. Kyoya sighed, knowing he wouldn't win this battle. He shook his head.

"You know, it's okay to rely on other people," Kyoya finally said, standing up and looking at her. "You don't always have to be your own hero."

* * *

**Ok people... I've got a dilemma... So answer me this: would you rather have a really long chapter, or two shorter chapters? They'd say the exact same thing... just split up or all at once... let me know because I'm tearin' my hair out trying to decide this! Gah! Decision making is the worst!**

**So anyway, now that my little panic is **almost** over... thank you to all my lovely and wayyy too kind reviewers! You guys are the best and I can't thank y'all enough! **

****side note** I'm going to try to update fast for the next couple of days... so sorry if stuff just keeps popping up! ;) **


	17. Enter: Renge!

**Okay! So this chapter isn't really that long (self-restraint X100000...) but I'm glad you all thought that longer chapters are better (however, I guess compared to some people I'm a pretty short writer) heh.. but regardless... here is chapter 17! Please enjoy and thanks for reading! **

* * *

"Emikoooo!" The twins came up from behind her and clung to her sides.

"Hey you two! Cut it out! Be careful!" Haruhi reprimanded them, swatting them back.

"It's just a scratch," Emiko laughed, glancing at her bandaged shoulder. (Haruhi: _scratch?_ You're kidding me right?!)

"Aw, Haruhi's no fun!" The twins pouted, now taking Haruhi's arms. "Come on! Let's play!"

"Geez, don't even think about it! Your arm is _not_ done healing!" Haruhi exclaimed, trying to extract herself from the twins' grasps.

"Boring, boring!" The twins chanted, hiding behind Emiko.

"Ugh…" Haruhi huffed in defeat, this was going to be a long day.

* * *

3:14 PM, Classroom #20:

Emiko sighed. The school day was finally over. It was hard enough being fussed over by Haruhi, but having other people stare at her just wasn't ideal. _What a nuisance..._ she thought with another sigh. Standing up, she grabbed her bag, awkwardly swung it around her shoulder, and exited the classroom.

Once in the hallway, she swiftly headed for the stairs, not wanting to be late again to the Host Club. She heard quick footsteps behind her, but ignored them.

"H-hey Emiko!" It was the pig-tailed girl and her friends. Emiko continued walking. _Not these idiots again! Agh… don't listen! They're just idiots… just…_

"Stop! Wait up! Don't you think it's little pathetic to fake such injuries? Do you really think you're fooling us?" One girl, someone Emiko had seen often at the Host Club, shouted out at her. _They're not right! They're wrong! Aren't they? _Emiko sped up, and tried to think of something else. Tried. _This hate… no… please no!_

"What, do you want their pity? You're already pitiable!" Another girl snarled, voice harsh and accusing. _I'm suffocating… help. Somebody… I can't take it…_

Emiko half-walked and half-ran around a corner, passing curious bystanders. She heard her name called again. She kept going. Suddenly, a door to her right opened. A whispered "In here!" echoed faintly as a hand reached out and jerked her through the door.

She tripped on something or someone and landed in a pile in the closet. It was a tight space, and she could hear another person's shallow breathing. A finger was pressed against her lips, keeping her silent. She waited as the sound of running and malicious giggling passed. Silence ensued. She let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close!" A female voice laughed. In the faint light coming from below the door, Emiko could see a girl in a yellow uniform.

"W-who are you?" Emiko asked, struggling into a squatting position. The other girl let out a small laugh.

"I've been watching you," she said simply, "I'm surprised we didn't meet sooner, but I've been busy with my production crew!" Her voice was bubbly and enthusiastic. Emiko looked at the ground, puzzled. "Okay, the coast is clear!" The girl leapt up and pushed the door the rest of the way open, letting light flood in. Emiko finally got a good look at her savior.

"I'm Renge Houshakuji! Manager of the Host Club!" She twirled and gave Emiko a smile. (Emiko: _manager?_)

"Ms. Houshakuji!" Emiko did a slight bow, "Thank you for saving me…" She trailed off, slowly becoming aware of an ache in her shoulder and wondering how on earth she'd never seen this girl before.

"It was nothing, and call me Renge," she giggled, then took on a serious face, "Oh! But we must fix this!" Emiko shook her head.

"No. I don't want to trouble you," she smiled and turned to leave, "Thank you again."

"Sadly, I won't take no for an answer!" Renge had her hands on her hips, gears turning in her head.

"But there's no way to fix this… I mean besides quitting…" Emiko bit her lip in doubt.

"My dear, my dear! Have you never heard of the classic princess tale? Of Cinderella? Of Snow White? A girl oppressed by others and downtrodden on her luck- only to rise up in elegance, beat the odds, and show them all?!" Renge tut-ed loudly in disproval.

"What are you talking about?" Emiko looked at Renge's scheming smile suspiciously.

"Leave it to me Emiko Minami!" Renge swung a finger at Emiko, eyes flashing with determination. "You're about to become royalty!"

* * *

Music Room #3:

"No." Kyoya said bluntly, scratching away at his notepad.

"Yes!" Renge slammed her hands on the table. "Absolutely! We must!"

"I think it's a great idea!" Honey nodded vigorously.

"No," Kyoya repeated, pushing his glasses up.

"But why not? I like the idea," Haruhi looked approvingly at Renge.

"Because it's too expensive," Kyoya said flatly, mouth turned down in a frown.

"Anyway," Kyoya cleared his throat, "Why do something so useless?"

"Mmh," Tamaki finally came to the table, biting his thumb in thought, "Not useless…" He sat down, looking at the rest of the hosts levelly. "She needs this… she never came to us because… well because she must've thought she couldn't," he shook his head sadly, "But now… now we can do something for her." He placed a commanding hand on the varnished tabletop. "We will do this for Emiko! Family protects family!" Light shone on his blonde hair and his eyes were set with pure determined energy.

"Huhhh…" Kyoya finally sighed. "Whatever, just don't blow the budget…"

"Geez Kyoya senpai, still against this? I just don't see why…" Haruhi shook her head at him. Kyoya remained silent, trying to analyze why he didn't like this. Was it because it was too crazy? No, Tamaki's done much crazier things. Was it his dislike of spending all of the budget? Possibly. No, but… It's because… because…

_Because she never told us…_

* * *

8:00 PM, Friday night, Music Room #3:

"No let go of me! Ahh!" Emiko flailed and made a dash for the door.

"Come on Emiko! It's almost time!" Hikaru and Kaoru dragged her back.

"No! I don't want to do this!" Emiko growled.

"You're gonna do it and you're gonna like it!" Renge barged in, arms full of taffeta and lace.

"You! I still can't believe you told them!" Emiko struggled against Hikaru and Kaoru.

"I did it for your own good!" Renge tsked, ignoring Emiko's glares. "Now put this on!"

* * *

9:00 PM, central ballroom:

"Ahem, ladies and gentlemen," A smooth voice reverberated through the room. "Thank you for attending tonight…" Everyone looked toward the impressive, marble entry staircase. Tamaki looked up, smiling charmingly. He swept his arm grandly, bowing.

"On behalf of the Host Club, welcome to our Enchanted Ball!"

* * *

**well? A ball should be interesting, right? Rightttt... anyway, this chapter gave me trouble, but thank you for all of your reviews and I really appreciate them! *throws a heart out to each reviewer* ;)**


	18. Until The Clock Strikes

**Ta-da! Chapter 18! A kinda-sorta-maybe longish chapter... I try, I try ;] **

**Anyway, thank you to all my adorable reviewers! You're all so kind (actually... too kind... hmmm... *glances around suspiciously*) nah y'all are the best and I hope you know it! Thanks for reading and enjoy!**

_I can't do it. I can't go out there like this! Dressed like this! T-they'll all stare at me…_Emiko leaned heavily against the wall. Her shoulder still ached and she knew the scratch on her cheek was visible. _All of that hate…_she cringed at the thought. _No… I have to do this… show them I can be better… right? _She straightened up, remembering Renge's instructions. ("All you have to do is go out there and dance with the Hosts! Then, when everyone sees how royal and graceful you are, they'll realize that you _belong_ here! You've got to show them you're not just better, but the best!")

Emiko let out a resigned sigh. This was going to be torture. (Emiko: "Couldn't I just hit them?" Renge had been appalled: "No way! A princess, not to mention, a _graceful_ princess never hits!" Emiko: "Since when was I a princess…?")

"Ready Emi-chan?" Honey bounded up beside her, clad in an adorable suit.

"Do I have a choice?" She asked wryly. Honey shook his head, grabbing her hand.

"This'll work," he said, leading her along the hallway, "Plus, you kinda owe us…"

"Huh?"

"You never told us you were getting bullied by the other girls…" Honey's voice dropped from its normal bubbliness, "We were worried…" He let out a small laugh, "You and Haruhi… you both don't understand that we worry… we all care about you and want you to trust us…" He trailed off. "But that's why we get to put you in a pretty dress now!" He tilted his head up, back to his normal, flowery self.

They were at the doors to the ballroom. Emiko could hear music and excited chatting from the other side. Nervousness welled up within her. _I… I can't… _She looked around frantically. Where did Honey go?! Geez… she sighed and finally mustered all of her courage. She pushed open the grand doors, feeling a breeze lift her hair.

* * *

On the ballroom floor:

He heard the door open with a mellow creak, making a few of the guests' heads turn. He himself knew the plan, and wasn't planning on letting her entrance distract him. But a quick glance couldn't be helped. He turned his head and stopped.

Standing at the top of the wide staircase, looking very uncomfortable, was Emiko. Her deep burgundy hair spilled over her bare shoulders, hiding the small bandage on her left shoulder. Her eyes were shone brightly, and her lips, pinched together in discomfort, were a deep berry. Her dress, flowing and elegant, was of a rich purple color (the color of royalty as Renge had put it) and it fit her perfectly.

How proportionally correct, Kyoya thought, turning away and trying to ignore the sudden quickening of his heart. Stylistically, Renge had gotten everything right. The deep purple complimented Emiko's hair and fair skin, and the fit enhanced her posture and elegant figure. It was a masterful work. _It's also quite beautiful…_ a part of Kyoya's critical and analytic mind pointed out… _What? No, it's factual and proportional, and… and that's it… isn't it? _

"Kyoya!" Tamaki's excited voice startled him out of his analyzing. "Ready for Phase I to begin?" Kyoya sighed, crossing his arms.

"I suppose," he turned, seemingly indifferent, and went to check on some of the guests. Tamaki shook his head, chuckling to himself. _I wonder what's gotten into him?_

* * *

"Emi-chan! Emi-chan!" Honey appeared beside her, holding out a hand. "Come on, let's go to the dance floor and dance!" Emiko looked at him suspiciously. He'd disappeared at just the right moment, allowing everyone to stare at her and only her as she entered. _Great…_she thought with an inner huff. Nevertheless, she let Honey lead her down the sweeping staircase, grateful that she heard the crowd's hum of conversation return to normal.

At the bottom of the staircase, the grand floor of the ballroom stretched out before Emiko. She felt her cheeks flush in nervousness, but quickly scolded that part of her. _No time for cowardice! I won't be a victim!_

Music swelled around her, and the guests all spun and swayed in dance. Honey glanced at her, grinning wide. She shook her head in defeat and let him lead her further onto the floor. They twirled and laughed. Emiko, doing her best to ignore the mean and hateful glares coming from a few of the other guests, and Honey, doing his utmost to distract Emiko.

"E-Emiko!" Haruhi called out to her, taking her hand from Honey's and starting to dance. "How are you?" Haruhi tilted her head in worry, remembering all the guilt she'd felt. After all that, Emiko had been bullied. How could Haruhi call herself a good person when she let someone get injured _and_ bullied? How?!

"I'm fine," Emiko chuckled lightly, "Don't forget, I was actually raised to do this sort of thing…" Haruhi blinked in surprise.

"I forgot," she said with a smile, feeling a bit of her guilt melt away, "You do have a prestigious family…" Emiko nodded and straightened up, keeping her head high. _Fake it till you make it,_ she thought with an inner shrug.

They continued chatting and dancing, not noticing the jealous girls looking longingly at Haruhi in her handsome suit. Their faces became even more horrified when Mori swooped in and stole Emiko from Haruhi's grasp. At first Emiko looked apologetically at Haruhi, but when she saw Haruhi's understanding smile, she shrugged and let Mori twirl her around.

"I forgot to thank you," Emiko had to stretch her neck up to look at Mori, "For finding me that day…" Mori nodded.

"We were worried," he said simply, holding Emiko's light frame as he spun her.

"I wish you wouldn't be…" Emiko sighed, shaking her head. _Having people worry is confusing…_she thought. Mori looked like he wanted to say something, but Hikaru cut in, gracefully pulling Emiko into a series of steps. They talked and laughed until Kaoru cut in, sticking his tongue out at Hikaru. He pulled Emiko close with his hand on her waist.

"Excuuuuusssseeee me…" Tamaki stuck himself between the two, arms pushing them apart.

"No fair! It's my turn!" Kaoru shook his fist at Tamaki, who quickly began dancing with Emiko, at a proper arms-length, and flashing Kaoru a peace sign.

"This all seems so extravagant…" Emiko began, feeling the music quicken. "I wish you all wouldn't trouble yourselves…" Tamaki let out a small chuckle.

"Why do you think this troubles us?" He looked kindly into her eyes, "What does trouble us is why you didn't tell us…" He trailed off, gazing at the crowd.

"I…" Emiko kept her head down, unable to look at him, "I didn't want to seem weak," she finally confessed, "I just cou-" A smooth voice interrupted her.

"Tamaki, Renge wanted to talk to you," Kyoya looked between Emiko and Tamaki, face perfectly blank.

"Oh okay!" Kyoya turned to leave, but was suddenly pulled back by Tamaki. "You'll have to excuse me Emiko, but Kyoya will dance with you until I return!" Tamaki shot Kyoya a wide grin and disappeared into the crowd. _Idiot…_ Kyoya thought with a sigh. He glanced at Emiko, who had her head turned away indifferently. _Damn it…_he gritted his teeth and held out a hand.

"Come on," he kept his voice as monotone as possible and led a shocked Emiko into a spin.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Emiko glared at her feet in embarrassment.

"What does it look like idiot? Dancing," Kyoya replied, rolling his eyes. _Don't hit him, don't hit him, don't hit him… _Emiko gripped his arm harder and fought back the urge to throw him across the room. Kyoya smirked to himself, knowing he had hit a nerve.

He and Emiko glided across the ballroom floor, mixing with the other dancing couples. The music flowed gently and created a hazy atmosphere to the room. Emiko's irritation slowly subsided, getting replaced with a feeling of anxiety and curiosity. _How could these people do so much for her? Why're they so nice!?_ It made her embarrassment rise back up in her chest. _Am… Am I a burden to them? Going to these lengths… must've taken a lot of money and time…_

"Ah… Kyoya!" She looked up at him suddenly, startling him. "Th… Thank you!" His eyes widened in shock and his steps faltered, causing Emiko to be thrown off balance as well. She tripped backward. Kyoya moved swiftly, grabbing her waist and arm. They're faces were an inch apart. Kyoya, eyes wide, couldn't move. For a moment, all calculations were lost. No numbers or variables came to mind. No clever equation appeared. Kyoya was speechless.

"Ah- eh… you can let go now," Emiko, turning away in self-consciousness, tried to ignore the feeling of warmth she had suddenly felt flush her cheeks. It was surprisingly safe and comfortable in his arms. _He's stronger than he looks…_she thought grudgingly. _Ack! What am I thinking? _

Kyoya blinked, regaining his senses and offered her a cold smirk, arm still around her waist.

"Don't think this was just for you," he said with a haughty laugh, "It's a gala… idiot," And he released her, walking away into the chatting mass of guests.

Emiko began to shake with irritation. _A… A gala!? Money-making jerk! That's right… he's still the same old manipulating computer! He's getting a profit off of this! When I get my hands on that lowlife dem-_

Her thoughts were cut off by Renge bounding up to her. Renge was dressed in a full ball gown with lace and bows.

"Emiko!" Renge clasped her hands behind her back, rocking back and forth on her heels. "Can you get Haruhi for me? I think she went to the back to get more napkins!" Renge smiled sweetly.

"Ah, sure," Emiko said hesitantly, but she nodded and headed toward the door. _Curious, I wonder why Renge can't get her… oh well, I am the maid after all…_She thought with a hint of resentment, thinking back to Kyoya. _Ah well, might as well fulfill my purpose…_

She walked around the edge of the crowd and into a side hallway, eventually reaching the doors of the store room. She opened them, and stepped in. It was dark, lit only by the light coming in from a dusty window.

"Haruhi?" She searched along the wall for a light switch. _Why's it so dark in here?_ _And where is Haruhi?_ She heard a creak and looked up. Standing in the doorway were three of her tormentors. They shut the double doors, eyes looking at her maliciously. The girl with pig-tails sneered at her, crossing her arms. The other two, holding tall, fluted glasses full of red punch, grinned at each other.

"Nice to see you again, Minami," the girl with pig-tails laughed, "Let's have a little chat."

* * *

****falls back from writer's fatigue**... anyway, I hope you all are enjoying this so far! I really, really, really (did I mention 'really'?) appreciate your reviews and the time you've taken to read this! If you've made it this far... CONGRATS! You win my love ;)**

**anyway, let me know what you think and (due to a certain suggestion... hint, hint/you know who you are) if y'all have any ideas that you want me to consider, let me know!**

****disclaimer: this does not mean that I'll use your idea... but I'll absolutely give you credit if I do! **

***crosses heart and pinky-swears* :D**


	19. 11:59:59

**Hey everyone! Thanks for making it this far! I really appreciate you reading this! And you lovely reviewers! Gosh I can't thank you enough! Thanks for your thoughts and ideas (keep 'em coming because there's no telling what I could incorporate into this story!) I'm sorry if I don't use your idea, but just know that I will take every single one of them into consideration! I promise! So, on that note, please enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"I'm glad we get to talk alone," the pig-tail girl said, casually brushing off a bit of imaginary dust from her dress. "We weren't sure you were going to tear yourself away from the beloved hosts…" she sniffed in annoyance.

"What do you want?" Emiko sighed wearily.

"Hah, don't you know?" The pig-tail girl laughed bitterly and took a step forward. Emiko edged sideways, knowing she could easily defend herself against these three girls.

"Obviously since I asked, I don't know," Emiko pointed out with a shrug.

"You-" the girl balled her fists up, "No… y'know what? We've had it with you and your monopolizing of the Host Club!" Emiko looked at them in shock. _Monopolizing the Host Club? I was forced into being their maid! Who do they think they are? Are they stupid!? _Emiko inched around sideways, aiming for the door. It wouldn't do any good to hit the girls… although, it'd be pretty satisfying.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Emiko replied lamely, watching as the girls mirrored her movements and moved more toward the window. Emiko now had her back to the door. She could feel the handle pressing lightly against the small of her back. Time to make a break for it.

"Listen Minami," the girl finally sneered, making Emiko pause, "You need to learn to stay away from them! We're going to teach you not to mess with _our_ hosts!" Emiko felt anger well up inside her. _How dare they! That's it! I'll take them all down!_ (No… don't. Don't resort to violence… you're better than that_… "A princess doesn't hit"…_) A sudden voice echoed in her head, quieting her rage. That's right, she thought, thinking back to Renge's words. _Be the better person_.

Emiko sighed. An ache blossomed in her chest and she knew that she'd better get back before someone worried. _That'd be just like them_, she thought with a sad smirk, _worrying about me…_

"Okay," she finally said, head low and arms hanging by her sides. _I won't fight. I won't hit them. I'll be the better person. I'll do it for them. _"Do your worst."

_*Splash*_

Emiko had closed her eyes, not wanting them to see her embarrassment and hurt pride. It hurt to not be able to defend herself. But this wasn't a battle she could have won with force.

"Heh," the girl with pig-tails and her friends grinned meanly. Emiko uncurled her fists, feeling the liquid drip down her arms. She was drenched with the contents of the two girls' glasses. _M-my dress! No! Renge worked so hard to do this for me! And…_ her eyes widened_… I ruined this… I let her down… I let them all down…_

"So, now you have to promise to never see the Host Club ever again," the girls chortled and tossed their glasses at Emiko's feet, cracking and shattering them. _Don't fight them. Be the better person… don't fight… no…_Emiko could feel her fury rise up inside her. She saw red and her shoulders shook. _You can shout at me all you want later Renge, _she thought grimly, preparing to lunge, _but I won't let them get away with this! _Anger glinted in her eyes and she pressed back against the door, ready to tear forward and show those girls just how much they'd regret this. _I'll destroy you._

"Unfortunately," the door suddenly opened, causing Emiko to fall backward, "We can't let her make such a promise." She fell into Kyoya, who placed his hands on her shoulders, stabilizing her. Emiko froze, eyes wide.

"K-Kyoya! Tamaki!" The girls gasped. "W-what are you doing!?" The girls backed up staring at all of the hosts.

"You girls are so troublesome," Kyoya sighed, closing his eyes in dramatic exasperation.

"Yes, girls like you are unpleasant," Hikaru began, crossing his arms, "So disgusting," Kaoru agreed, eyes shining angrily.

"Awful," Honey said. "Indeed," Mori cracked his knuckles threateningly. Haruhi just stared at the scene in horror. Another wrong done to Emiko. How could this happen?

"We… we were only trying to keep her from getting to close to you! You _can't_ have her around all the time! It goes against everything the Club stands for!" The girl with pig-tails shouted at them, eyes blazing.

"You don't get it, huh," Tamaki said softly, looking at the three girls sadly, "What we stand for is family. She's family so she stays with us… I'm sorry, but I suggest you leave and never return to the Club," he looked at the ground in sadness and disappointment.

"Yes," Kyoya, glasses glinting gripped Emiko's shoulders tighter, making her wince, "And if you ever so much as _look_ at her negatively…" He paused, letting out a cruel laugh, "We'll make sure you never see the light of day," he ended with a smile, "Okay?"

The girls all turned white and their teeth began chattering. In an instant they had leapt over the broken glass and torn away from the storage room. The hosts looked after them, shrugging in relief and finally turning toward Emiko. They all turned gray when they saw tears streaming down her face.

"W-what's wrong!?" Tamaki looked at her in worry.

"Emi-chan! Emi-chan! Don't cry! You can hug Usa-chan!" Honey ran about, trying to make her feel better.

"Don't worry," Haruhi put a hand on her trembling shoulders, "They won't hurt you anymore!" Emiko looked up in surprise, sniffling.

"I-it's not that!" Her voice quavered, "I just… I wanted to hit them _so _bad!" She burst into tears again. "I was so close!" The other hosts looked at her in shock. Haruhi burst out laughing.

"Ahaha.. oh Emiko!" Hikaru and Kaoru joined in laughing, holding their sides. The rest of the hosts exploded into laughter as well, shaking their heads at the grief-stricken Emiko.

"Stupid idiot," Kyoya shook his head, grinning slightly. Emiko whipped around, socked him in the shoulder, and turned back. Kyoya, now less than upright, held his already-bruising shoulder.

"Redundancy," Emiko reprimanded him, shaking her head in mock disappointment. She shot Kyoya a mean grin and flashed him the peace sign. Everyone erupted into laughter again, except for Kyoya, who nursed his injured pride just as attentively as he did his shoulder.

"Oh wow," Emiko stretched and examined her knuckles, "I really needed that!" The hosts all had tears of laughter in their eyes, "I feel much better!"

* * *

**Yes, yes, a sweet ending! Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing! Y'all rock ;D**

**Lil' hint: Unfortunately for our Hosts, things are about to get worse! Some drama is about to ensue... *dramatic music* and any feelings that could have emerged might just be ruined! dah...dah.. DAH! *evil music* **

**heh... oh and I love ending on cliffhangers *blows kisses* so sorry ;] but it makes me feel loved when you guys yell at me for it.. so keep it up!**


	20. A Nighttime Occurrence

**Wow, chapter 20 already!? Thanks for making it this far everyone! I appreciate it! So far, what do you think? I know I said drama was about to happen... but I maybe... sorta... kinda... lied a bit... its going to be next chapter! ;D *runs away from angry reader* I'm sorryyyy! Please don't be mad... *puppy-dog face of super irresistible cuteness*... sighhh... okay, go ahead and yell at me *hangs head***

* * *

Monday of the following week:

"You _planned _that!?" Emiko shot up from her seat in horror. Renge grinned widely at her.

"_Planned?_ Oh I don't know…" she trailed off, "Just because it all worked out how I wanted to doesn't mean it was _planned_…" she let out a happy, witch-like cackle.

"And it worked, didn't it?" Kyoya said, scratching away at a calculation in his ledger.

"_You!_" Emiko, eyes like the devil, turned on the Kyoya and the rest of the hosts trembling behind his chair. "You were in it for the money you could make off of the gala! You manipulated my situation to gain a profit!" Her eyes blazed with a sense of injustice.

"N-now, now! We all agreed…" Tamaki flapped his hand, trying to calm her down.

"_AND YOU!_" Tamaki grayed and shot behind Haruhi, shaking. "You were _all_ in on this!? I was only supposed to _dance_! You didn't tell me I'd have to get terrorized more!" _Geez… my pride could have at least been saved! _She turned ferocious eyes on the hosts.

"Heh… well when you say it like that… and well, ah, y'know we were just trying to…" Tamaki's teeth chattered as he shoved Haruhi closer to Emiko's fiery form.

"Well, whatever the reason," Haruhi began, pushing Tamaki away, "We're glad you're okay now, so don't be too angry at them… in their own crazy way they were trying to help.. I guess we should have told you though..." She smiled apologetically at Emiko, whose annoyance died instantly.

"Ah!" Renge clapped her hands, standing up, "Now that that's settled, I'll be going!" (Everyone: What?! You're just going to leave like that!?) "Yes, yes! I have to get back to working on my newest short film of Uki Doki Memorial! It's going to be a second production full of courageous characters that really hit straight into the heart! I'm starting off with this… and putting this is…. And adding a character here… and this… and that!" The hosts shook their heads and sighed as she continued on.

_Heh, don't worry Renge…_ Emiko thought sweetly, keeping her face blank as she looked fondly at the overly excited girl, _revenge will be sweet!_

* * *

Saturday, 1:25 AM

Emiko tested the rope, tugging it twice just to make sure. It seemed secure enough. Silently, she dropped it down through the window, glancing quickly at the floor below her to make sure no one was there. It was empty and silent. She nimbly grabbed onto the rope and slowly began lowering herself into the mansion. It was a big estate she'd chosen, though unfortunately she hadn't had time to plan a fun revenge plot on Renge. Her house was Emiko's next target.

_Still_, Emiko mused, slipping lower and lower into the shadowed room, _it's nice to be back in the game…_ She'd been feeling restless lately, but couldn't figure out why. She thought back to earlier that day. She'd come across her stash of stolen trinkets and found an extra origami rose. Seeing it had made her think of her maid. _I wonder how she's doing…_Emiko, inches from the ground, hung suspended for a few seconds, thinking about the maid she hadn't seen for three years. _I miss her…_

"Hiya!" Twin voices popped up beside her, causing Emiko to release her hold on the rope and fall ungracefully to the ground with a _thump_. She rubbed her knee and looked up at the source of the voices. Dangling beside her with devilish grins were the Hitachiin brothers. Emiko's eyes went blank with shock, but she quickly recovered.

"What are you guys doing here?!" She exclaimed as they dropped silently to the floor beside her. "You could get us in trouble!" She folded her arms and looked suspiciously at them.

"Aw we were just bored!" Kaoru pouted.

"Yeah! And Haruhi wouldn't let you play with us at school…" Hikaru began with a shrug.

"So we came here," Kaoru finished nodding. "Ah, hey, should you even be here with your shoulder?" He pointed at where the cut was. Emiko shrugged.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, so I figured I might as well…" she hesitated before adding, "And I was getting a little bored too…" The twins looked at each other in surprise.

"We knew we liked you for a reason…" they said in unison, grinning slyly.

Emiko considered this. They were already there… no use in making them leave… She huffed out a sigh.

"Alright," she lifted her head up in acceptance and flashed them an equally mischievous grin, "Let's begin shall we?"

* * *

Sunday, 11:40 AM

Conference Call:

"She said WHAT?!" Tamaki shouted, waving his arms around in despair.

"Calm down Tamaki," Kyoya held the phone away from his ear. "She said she was busy…"

"Busy doing what?" Tamaki, hurt at her refusal, whimpered dramatically.

"She's at a garden party," the twins cut in. Tamaki froze.

"How do _you_ two know that?!" Suspicion dripped from his voice as he added devil horns and mustaches to a picture of the twins.

"She told us last night," they replied. Tamaki paled.

"Why were you with her last night? What were you doing? Was there a grown-up there? How long were you guys together! I shan't have it! I shan't! Kyoya-mommy! This is an outrage! Why do we allow such lowly perverts to influence-" the rant continued.

"Uh… senpai?" Haruhi, finally a member of the conference call, interceded, "Why're you so upset?"

"Because today would have been our first official outing as an entire… "family"…" Kyoya, voice monotone, replied.

"Guess you should've planned it earlier boss…" Hikaru teased.

"Why you lil-" Tamaki gnashed his now pointed teeth together.

"Hey Tama-chan! Calm down, calm down!" Honey's sweet voice echoed over the receiver. "Emi-chan probably didn't know…"

"Yes, well, that's probably because he didn't tell her," Kyoya sighed in exasperation. "Honestly Tamaki, don't you ever plan ahead?"

Tamaki, rage and super-pervert-fighting abilities dwindling, turned gray and he began to grow a variety of gloomy mushrooms. He poked at the floor.

"S'not something I thought of…" the rest of the hosts sighed into their phones.

"Say…Kaoru," Hikaru held back a laugh.

"Yes? Hikaru?" Kaoru looked at his brother and spoke into the phone.

"Didn't Emiko mention where this garden party was taking place?"

"Why, yes she did…"

Tamaki shot up from his mushroom corner and glared at the twins' picture.

"You'd better start talking you demons!" Tamaki's voice rang out loudly. "We must bond as a family!"

"But boss…" the twins complained, holding the phone as far away as possible.

"Must!" Tamaki slammed a fist on his side table, determination setting in.

"Fine…" The twins sighed and told them the details Emiko had revealed the night before.

Tamaki nodded along, listening intently. This was going to work! Emiko _had_ to bond with everyone; it was something a family _had _to do… it was absolutely necessary to Tamaki.

"Alright men," he finally said after the twins had finished talking, "We're crashing a garden party!"

* * *

**Okay, I'm going to be honest with all of y'all... this chapter was awkward. I couldn't make everything flow together nicely.. so its a chunky chapter of awkwardness! Sorry! But it is important... I swear! Emiko is still in the thieving game... and so are the Hitachiins? Who knows what those guys are up to!... **

**Anyway, thanks for reading! And let me know what you think! I pretty much live off of your reviews... so if you don't want me to turn into a lifeless ghost... speak now or forever hold your peace! (or don't... I'll chase after you anyway! Always and forever!)**

***crickets*... yeah... that just got weird... **

**anywayX2: thank you all so much and I hope you're enjoying this story! (if not... I understand... it just wasn't... wasn't meant to be...*sniff*)**

**;]**


	21. One Big Mistake

**Oh geez... you guys are gonna hate me... so I'm going to be traveling for the next few days and I won't be able to update... but hey! At least I'm warning you now! **

***reader gives cold shoulder*... *please no! I can do better! I promise!* *reader walks away* ... *but we belong togetherrrrrr!* **

**ah the endless awkwardness of my love... anyway, enjoy and thanks for reading you lovely people!**

* * *

"Oh my dear! You've grown so much!" Emiko bowed her head humbly.

"Thank you ma'am," she smiled sweetly.

"Such a sweet, polite girl!" The woman nodded to her friends who murmured their agreements.

"Emiko dear! Come here for a moment," her mother called across the lawn to her, elegantly holding out her hand.

"If you'll excuse me," Emiko dipped her head again and turned to go.

She walked across the lawn and joined her chatting mother and stern-looking father. Business associates crowded around them, now turning toward Emiko.

"Ah Emiko darling," her mother smiled gently, "Your father and I were just telling the Oshida's about your excellent marks in school!" The men and women standing around her nodded politely. "And we've been training her in the family business, haven't we honey?" Emiko's mother patted her arm.

"Yes, yes," a tall man set his drink down, "We're glad to hear you're doing well… considering…" The man stopped, trailing off. An older man next to him shot him a harsh look. Emiko glanced at her father, who had his head down and his arms crossed. The crowd got awkwardly silent.

"Considering what?" Her father finally said, voice mellow, but Emiko could detect a hint of a threat in his tone.

"Oh nothing, nothing," the older man twittered, waving a hand lazily in the air. Emiko looked between her mother and father. Her mother's charming attitude had dissipated and her father's face was lined with indignation.

"If you are referring to our loss of the Ootori group as a client then I assure you that we are untroubled by such a setback," her father said, voice cutting the uncomfortable atmosphere like glass.

"But it is a setback, is it not?" Another man, Emiko recognized him as one of the Minami Company's investors, spoke up.

"Gentlemen, please," a new voice cut in. Emiko felt an arm wrap around her shoulders. "Change is nothing but progress, correct?" Kyoya smiled cunningly at the surprised group. Emiko's face went white and her jaw dropped before she could stop it.

"K-Kyoya…" shock and horror were written all over her face. Behind him, the rest of the hosts were quickly becoming comfortable at the party. Tamaki was already enchanting some of the older wives of the business tycoons, the Hitachiin brothers were chatting with some of the younger attendees, Honey and Mori were making an endearing display for some maids, and Haruhi was by the plates of dainty pastries. Emiko was shell-shocked. It was like she was back at the Host Club.

"M…Mr. Ootori!" Her father stammered, "Is your father with you?" Kyoya, arm still around Emiko's rigid shoulders, shook his head.

"My father does not know of my business here," his glasses glinted, "However, I'm sure I can provide an accurate report of our conversations…" He looked down at Emiko. "And Ms. Minami here has been a great source of help to my club. Thanks to this, I'd like to discuss your position with the Ootori group." _What the?_ Emiko was still frozen in shock, but this slowly melted at his words. _Our position? What's his agenda? He has some nerve to come here… in front of all of our associates no less!_

"Does this mean we're back into the contract?" Emiko saw a look of reserved hope spring into her father's stern face.

"Unfortunately, no," Kyoya smiled, "However, I think some statistical analysis of your company would provide some useful information." Emiko's head shot up.

"So you're saying you're here to take our information and return nothing to us?" At her words her mother and father gasped. The rest of the crowd looked on with interest.

"I'm here to gather data," Kyoya replied mildly.

"And that's perfectly fine," Emiko's mother said, voice low.

"It's manipulative!" Emiko exclaimed, stepping out from under Kyoya's arm. "Just because you're company has power and money does not mean you can intimidate other companies into furthering your own!" Her mother and father turned blue.

"Emiko enough!" Her father took a step forward, hands clenched. "That's _exactly_ what it means!"

"It's not manipulative," Kyoya retorted, "It's business."

"Business is a contract… a partnership between equals, where both benefit! This… this parasitism that you're invoking is not _real_ business!" Emiko's eyes burned with indignation. It was partially from the shock of seeing the hosts there and partially her annoyance at Kyoya using her father and the company.

"Emiko!" Her mother grabbed her arm, face set in embarrassment. "Enough! You're embarrassing us!" She whispered, gripping Emiko's arm tightly. Emiko looked over at her father, whose mouth was turned down in a frown. His eyes looked coldly into hers.

"Fine," she fought back tears and turned away, racing out of the party and further into the gardens.

* * *

"There you are," a mocking voice reached her ears. Emiko was perched by the edge of a fountain, watching the water swirl slowly down from the spout. She didn't even bother to turn around.

"Go away," she said, knowing she sounded childish, but not caring. _How much worse can he be?_ She thought, feeling annoyance surge through her.

"Y'know, for someone trying to win back my father's business, you're not doing a very good job," Kyoya came and stood behind her. She could hear the taunt practically drip from his words.

"And you're not doing a very good job at being a gentleman!" She replied, knowing full well that running away from an embarrassing situation had been anything _but_ ladylike. _How am I going to survive the professional world with jerks like Kyoya around?_ She thought miserably.

His quiet chuckle made Emiko turn around. For a moment she couldn't move. He was gazing at her with sharp eyes, no doubt reading her every thought. But it wasn't his calculating and obnoxious manner that had made her stop, rather, the look on his face. There was the hint of a smile playing at the edges of his lips, and his eyes regarded her in an almost fond way. _He looks happy_… a small part of her thought, _why… why am I so speechless?_

"Do you want to take a picture of me? Maybe a series of photographs? You could do a quick sketch…Or would you rather continue to bore a hole through me with your eyes?" Emiko jumped at his voice. _Argh! What was I just thinking? He's still a jerk!_

"I…" Emiko stammered, "Ah… you're so annoying!" She finally snapped, turning glaring eyes on him.

"I'm the annoying one? You've caused endless trouble ever since you _broke _intomy house!" Kyoya replied, crossing his arms.

"_I've_ caused trouble?!" Emiko stood up, fists clenched at her sides. "You guys are the ones dragging me into all these things!"

"Well you've always gone along with them," Kyoya countered, irritation rising, "And you've never said how much of a _bother_ our activities have been!"

"Well they are!" Emiko retorted, shoulders shaking with full-fledged anger.

"My apologies! I suppose a small-minded idiot like you _would_ find our work bothersome!" Kyoya snarled, fists balled up. _She's getting on my last goddamn nerve! _

"_Small minded?!_ At least I'm not a manipulative jerk who harbors the emotional equivalent of a computer!" Emiko shouted back.

"And _I'm_ anything but irrational and self-obsessed like you! You have no standard for what not to do! You just leap right into stupid and dangerous situations! It's no wonder such an entrepreneur as your father would be embarrassed over having _you_ as the company's heir!" Instantly, he regretted his words.

Emiko stood there, struck by the words. Fury and hatred swirled around within her. Yet, it was the sadness that consumed her.

"...," Kyoya tried to find something to say. An apology seemed reasonable, but his normally quick-thinking mind had stopped functioning. Emiko looked at him, visibly hurt. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them away.

"You know what? …" she finally whispered, anger and shame making her voice choke and words falter.

"I quit."

* * *

**Ah... see... I told you you'd hate me... cliffhangers... I know... but I just had to! I'm sorry *sniffs* it seemed like a good idea at the time! Forgive me!**

**Anyway, on to some other stuff: I don't know how long this is going to be... I have at least two more BIG things I want to have happen... but other stuff might make it longer... I hope y'all don't get too upset with me! *sniff* **

**Thanks for reading though and I absolutely adore your reviews! They basically make my life ;)**

**P.S. after this little episode of drama... guess what? MORE (romantic?) DRAMA! yayyyyyy (or not 'yayyyyy' if you hate happiness and puppies)**

**anyway, another update won't be for a couple days (or a week *gasp*)! Sorr-eh! **


	22. Aftermath

**Guess who's back!? Yay chapter 22! I hope y'all enjoy this and didn't miss me too much ;D **

* * *

_"I quit." _It had been a shock that she'd come to such a decision. She'd said it with such hatred and finality… _I almost feel bad_… Kyoya thought to himself, sitting on the edge of his bed. He replayed the entire scene, putting a hand to his throbbing temple. _How annoying_… he bit his lip, doing his best to ignore a rising sense of guilt. It didn't help that Tamaki and the rest of the hosts had been practically in tears. Haruhi had looked especially disappointed. It made Kyoya feel guilty and angry at the same time.

He couldn't figure out why she'd come to such a conclusion. Every rational action she could've taken to ensure her father's company didn't lose the Ootori business for forever, and yet, she acted in a way that could've destroyed her family's livelihood. _I just don't understand her!_ Kyoya huffed, now getting annoyed at all of the confusing feelings. _It's not my fault she's so rash and takes idiotic chances… _Kyoya shook his head, unable to comprehend Emiko's words. _What is this? My chest feels constricted… are these? Yes… These feelings… I hate them… they don't make any sense! _

* * *

Music Room #3:

"Welcome ladies!" The Host Club is now open for business!

"T-Takashi!" Honey, tears in his eyes, reached out for his tall friend.

"What is it Mitsukuni?" Mori bent down, placing a comforting hand on Honey's head.

"I don't know which cake to choose!" Honey, eyes wide with the predicament, pointed at the table. Mori smiled slightly.

"You've always liked strawberry," Mori said wisely, "Go with your favorite." Honey nodded, a smile forming on his previously trembling lips.

"Okay! Thanks Takashi!"

"That. Was. So. Cute!" The girls watching on the sides had hearts in their eyes and tears flowing down their cheeks. "I can't stand the cuteness!" They chattered to each other happily.

"Oh Tamaki," the girl looked down, blushing, "I know it's selfish of me, but I had really wanted to dance with you at the ball…"

"Princess, my eyes were on you the entire time," Tamaki cupped her chin and brought their faces closer, "But the barriers between us are only molehills compared to the mountains of passion I feel for you…" His silky voice trailed off, leaving the girl blushing and stammering.

"Haaa…" Hikaru sighed, leaning against his brother.

"I know…" Kaoru murmured, staring blankly out the window.

"Hikaru, Kaoru," Kyoya came up to them, arms crossed, "Do tell me why you're not entertaining our guests." His glasses glinted.

"We're bored…" Hikaru began, "And it's just not as much fun around here with Emiko gone…" Kaoru nodded.

"That doesn't mean you stop working," Kyoya said icily, gripping his notebook, "She means nothing now to the club, so I suggest you forget about her involvement here and do your jobs." He began to turn away.

"Now wait just a minute, Kyoya-senpai!" Haruhi barged up to him, having overheard the conversation. "Emiko's an important member here! She mattered a lot! Now, whatever you said or did, you need to apologize!" Haruhi looked him straight in the eyes and crossed her arms.

"Who says I did or said anything to that girl?" Kyoya replied, "Furthermore, the rest of our club is functioning perfectly fine without her."

"_That girl?!_" Haruhi gritted her teeth. _Damn, he can be so stubborn!_ "But they're not actually fine…" she finally said, voice fighting to stay calm. She pointed to Tamaki.

"Oh… your name is… Em… Emiri?" Tamaki had just been about to take the customer's hand. The girl nodded. _Just like __Em__iko_…Instantly, tears welled up in Tamaki's eyes and he put on a puppy-dog face of sadness. In a flash, he was in the corner and turning blue… sniffing under the rain cloud that had sprouted above him. The girl flailed her arms frantically, not knowing what to do, but feeling very confused.

Haruhi then turned to the other side of the room, pointing.

"Wah! Takashi! You were right! Strawberry is the best!" Honey waved his fork around, smiling. Suddenly, he stopped. His smile dropped from his face and his eyes turned big and mournful. "I was gonna eat strawberry cake with Emi-chan and Usa-chan…" He sniffed at his realization, "Wahhhhhhh! She's never coming back!" He buried his face in Usa-chan and ignored Mori's attempts to console him.

"See?" Haruhi looked back at Kyoya, who had turned away. "Hey! Listen to me!" Kyoya whipped around.

"I will _not_ apologize to such an annoying and petty girl! Our business is done. So I recommend you all drop the topic and work!" His eyes glinted menacingly and the hosts leapt back, fearful of the demon that had suddenly emerged.

"What's with him?" Tamaki, no longer under the raincloud, came to stand beside Haruhi. Haruhi shrugged.

"Whatever it is…" she shook her head and sighed, "He'd better get over it… I haven't even seen her since last Sunday…" _I just know something happened between those two!_ Haruhi, trying to hone her detective skills, thought hard about their party-crashing. She'd seen Emiko run off and Kyoya follow her… but… but then Kyoya had come back all silent and moody. _What could he have said to her?_

* * *

Tuesday; 12:04 AM

Emiko had already been to three other houses. So far she had a key, a small book, and a pen… it was worthless stuff, but she felt proud of her prizes. _Childish…_ a voice chided her. _No… it's not… is it?_ Ever since she'd quit working for the Host Club she'd felt strange. Was she wrong to have done so? She shook off her feelings of doubt and continued on her fourth score. A distraction was all she needed. It was a smaller mansion, but heavily guarded. She'd evaded the night-watch and had to practically crawl her way to the side wall. There were no easy-access windows, so she decided to head to the roof.

Nimbly, she climbed from a tree to the side of the mansion. The stucco material on the outside made it hard for her to climb, but she grabbed hold of a window ledge and continued upward. The night breeze rustled the leaves below her. It made her want to take her mask off.

Upon reaching the roof, she dropped down on her hands and knees, not wanting to be seen by any wandering eyes. She inched her way to the nearest sky-light window and peeked down. An empty living room. _Perfect._

She pulled out her lock-picking tools and set to work on the corner of the window frame. It was tough and stubborn. Tiredness setting in, she decided to simply remove some of the panes from the window. _I can't give up… _she thought with a grim look on her face. She knew she wanted to prove herself… but to who? She didn't know.

Two of the window panes popped off with a muffled creak. She set them down carefully beside her. Rummaging through the small black backpack she'd brought with her, she produced a thick rope. She tied the rope to the end of a metal pipe that skirted around the roof, tugging it to make sure it was secure.

She then dropped it down into the empty room. She'd really like entering from rooftops lately. Spinning down into a room from above made her feel like a professional. It was exhilarating. She took one foot off of the frame and then another, hanging mid-air. Slowly, she spun her way down.

* * *

"Hey Kaoru," Hikaru whispered, nudging his brother.

"Yeah?" Kaoru brushed leaves out of his face.

"Think it's time to follow her?" Hikaru looked through a pair of binoculars.

"Not yet," Kaoru said.

They'd been watching Emiko scale the walls and finally end up on the roof of the building. They'd hoped she'd lead them to an easier entrance, but it looked like the roof was the only option. Now, they waited patiently as Emiko lowered herself into the room. Hikaru craned his neck, barely able to see her.

"Agh, this window is at a bad angle," he whispered.

"Okay, let's get to a new position," Kaoru whispered back, voice rising in excitement. This was fun for them. They liked watching Emiko work, but even better was when they got to break in as well. It was a new form of entertainment.

"Hey Kaoru… look through these," Hikaru offered up the binoculars. Kaoru took them and looked.

"… Wait…" his voice got nervous. "Oh no!"

"What? What is it?" Hikaru looked at his brother anxiously. Kaoru almost bolted up from his squatting position. "What Kaoru!?" Kaoru didn't reply. He kept looking intently through the binoculars. Something bad was happening. Hikaru clenched his hands in worried uncertainty. Kaoru gasped.

"E-Emiko!"

* * *

**Muahahaha! Cliffhangers! *evil grin* well you knew ****_something_**** had to happen... but rest assured, everything happens for a reason... *strokes imaginary beard slyly* muahahaha, oh do I have ****_plans_**** for you... and your little dog too... okay that was cheesy... sorry *hangs head in shame***

**anyway, thanks for making it to here! I really appreciate your reviews and hope you guys like this! (it's what keeps me writing!) **


	23. Captured

**I know, I know... I upload wayyy too fast... but there's a reason! I'm trying to get to a specific thing by a specific date... yay for cryptic and kind of suspicious wording! Anyway, thank you to all of my readers and reviewers! You guys rock my socks (seriously... I'm not going to have any more socks if you guys keep being so awesome) ah the jokes... but truly, thank you from the bottom of my heart :)**

* * *

She'd been hit before she knew it. A solid blow to the head had caused her to crumble to the ground, unconscious. There were no thoughts or feelings, only darkness. The darkness was endless; it swallowed her, but she was both aware and unaware of it at the same time. Shadows flickered back and forth until she finally had the sensation of lying flat on her back. Everything slowly began to materialize.

She kept her eyes closed at first, mostly because her head was throbbing and she knew she'd only make it worse if she got up suddenly. She heard hushed murmurs and felt a thin sheet coving her from the waist down. She felt cold metal underneath her.

_ W-where am I? What happened…_ she breathed deeply and tried to think back to what had happened. She'd been inside the mansion and had just dropped down from the rope when someone had hit her. How had she not seen or heard them? She'd scanned the room… maybe there was something she'd missed. Suddenly, she heard someone come close to her. Her hand twitched, ready to defend. There was a cool chuckle above her and the smell of cigarettes enveloped the air around her face. The voice that spoke was harsh and cold.

"Awake are we?"

* * *

1:00 AM

"K-kyoya! Senpai! Everyone! H-h-help!" Hikaru shouted as quietly but forcefully as he could into the phone.

"Why on earth are you calling at this time?" Tamaki's tired voice was muffled by sleep.

"It's… it's…" Kaoru leaned into Hikaru. Before either of them could answer a menacing voice spoke up.

" . . . ?!" Everyone on the phone felt the temperature of their rooms drop by ten degrees.

"K-kyoya! It's important!" Kaoru begged.

"It'd better be," his voice remained menacing.

"Calm down and tell us what happened," Tamaki said sleepily. Haruhi, Honey, and Mori listened silently, barely staying awake.

"I-it's Emiko!" The hosts all suddenly felt a pang of anxiety in their chests.

"What happened?" Haruhi managed to say it calmly.

"W-w-we were following her to… to a house… and… well… she," the twins panted in nervousness.

" .Out." Kyoya's harsh voice cut their scared rambling.

"She was hit! All we saw was a shadow…" Kaoru finally managed to say. The twins were collapsed in a heap behind the hedges of the mansion, unsure of what to do.

"H-hit? By who?" Tamaki and Haruhi asked in unison, panic rising.

"We d-don't know…" Hikaru's voice trembled.

"We have to do something! Dear god, what are we going to do? Did you see anything else?" Tamaki went into determination mode.

"Okay, Hikaru, Kaoru, get out of there and meet us at the police station!" Haruhi said, "Kyoya senpai, you need to-" There was a click. "Uh… Senpai?"

There was silence. Tamaki inhaled deeply.

"He… he hung up."

* * *

1:07 AM; Ootori Mansion

*Click* His hands shook.

"_Damn_," he cursed through gritted teeth. The rage that enveloped him was overwhelming. _That idiot…_he thought, almost crushing the phone within his hand. He put a hand to his face, trying to quiet the fury. With quick movements, he was dressed and out the door.

A plan… he strode to his family's car… I need a plan…

* * *

1:30 AM

"Who are you?" The man was tall, square shouldered and talked with a smooth, cunning voice. Emiko had immediately distrusted him.

"Come on, you've got to open your eyes sometime," he chuckled quietly, bringing his mouth close to her ear. The smell of cigarettes wafted along with his words. She heard him 'tsch'. Suddenly, she was yanked up by her shirt and hair. Her eyes flew open. They met steely, gray eyes. The eyes belonged to a young man, much more handsome than Emiko would have liked to admit. His face was clean-shaven and his dark hair was brushed casually away from his eyes. She watched as those eyes quickly scanned her, analyzed her and narrowed in cruel laughter.

"Speechless are we?" The man pulled her off the metal table she had been lying on and shoved her into a chair. Her scalp stung. He straightened out his rich, gray suit, examining the sleeves. She felt herself tremble. "Well, rest assured," he smiled and pulled out a cigarette from his jacket pocket, "You won't be for long."

* * *

2:00 AM

The worst part was the tears that she couldn't stop. She wanted to be brave. She didn't want to be a victim. But it hurt. It hurt so much.

"Heh," the guy leaned back against the table, examining a slim knife. "Still won't talk, eh?" He shook his head. "Such a stubborn girl." Emiko kept her head down. Her hair dripped with water and she fought to slow her ragged breathing. The guy rolled his eyes and gripped her head, forcing her face up. "Oh come on! This is so-oh boring!" Emiko stayed silent, eyes glaring hatefully into his. _I really want to hit you. _He shrugged and brought the knife to her cheek, pressing the blade just hard enough that she could imagine the sting.

She ignored the knife and tugged at the plastic ties restraining her hands and legs. Useless. She was trapped. She blinked back more tears. The guy grinned, pulling the knife away from her cheek.

"Too bad you're so stubborn," he turned his back to her, pacing across the gray and shadowed room, "And so serious for such a pretty girl…" He stopped by a half-full bucket of water, cigarette in his hand. "But…" his voice was menacing, "So damn stubborn!" He kicked violently at the bucket, sending water spraying and the metal bucket flying into the wall. In seconds he was back across the room, and his hand around Emiko's throat.

"Do speak to me," he cooed, "If you'll only tell me who you are and why you were in my house, this'll all be over…" His eyes gazed endearingly into hers. _I can't get free… if I could just…_ she tried to twist her head away, but he held it firmly, nails digging into her neck.

"Go to hell," she said hoarsely. The guy burst into laughter.

"She finally speaks! Ahahaha! But I'm afraid you've got it wrong," he released her and she coughed at the sudden rush of air. "It's not me who's in hell," he wagged a finger at her and grinned widely, tossing his cigarette to the floor and stamping it out. _I could wipe that grin off your face in seconds, _Emiko glared at the well-dressed and well-groomed guy. What was a guy like him doing interrogating a young girl? She coughed again. _If I could only get my hands free…_

"Oh, but I'm sorry," the guy brushed his hair from his face and bowed gallantly at her. "You must be wondering who your own personal demon is, huh? The big, bad Wolf to your not-so-sweet Red-riding Hood? Ahahah…" the guy chuckled to himself, picking up the knife and coming toward her. "We did start off on the wrong foot though, didn't we? Well," he shoved her chair back, gripping her shoulder with surprising strength. A wide grin spread across his handsome face.

"I'm Katsu Takeo. Nice to meet you!"

* * *

**Hot, evil new guy? Hell yeah! Hehe but he's seriously insane (just warning you!)**

**Character Corner:**

**Katsu Takeo**

**22 years old**

**5ft. 11**

**Black, messily styled hair**

**Gray eyes **

**Sign: Scorpio**

**Favors expensive suits and extravagant parties, but can get really serious really quickly**

**Has a love of being in control**

**Involved with some underhanded relations (particularly in terms of illegal trade)- such business makes him paranoid about competition**

**Enjoys using force to get what he wants and manipulation to get what isn't freely given**


	24. Not A Knight

**Okay, so I'm going to respond to all of the reviews from chapter 23! I want everyone to know that I adore your reviews and apologize if I don't reply here (but I'm going to try to do this for some other chapters!)**

**Animelover2398****: Ahhhh! You're so adorable! Sorry for all the cliffhangers ;) [Ehhh… actually I'm not sorry.. muwahaha I love cliffhangers!]**

**SourElf****: you are absolutely right. Stealing is wrong. While this is not being directly addressed by the characters of the story, I do want everyone to know that I am in no way condoning stealing or any illegal acts. Please don't do it! If you're reading this then please listen to SourElf's wise words!**

**Jill-sama****: Hahah! I'm glad you think so! Yeah I created him with the intention of him being the main villain… I hope he's evil enough ;D**

**JuliannaCherries****: you've been one of the most helpful reviewers! I can't thank you enough! But I can see what you're saying about Katsu being the typical bad guy. My intention was to have his crazy/violent nature show through only a little bit (with him hiding it for the most part). I actually agree that he's kind of one dimensional at the moment; however, I don't know if that's going to change (it might but who knows!). Nevertheless, all I want you to get out of this is that he falls into the paranoid-evil-richguy category! (Lil' hint: he brings the ultimate climax that leads to a… hmm… heated end… just sayin' ;D). Anyway, thanks for all of your constructive criticism! It's really helped J **

**Guest****: I totally agree with you! It was weird for Kaoru to be so out-of-character-mad… but this was only my little writer's tweak in their personalities. I did this because Hikaru was the one that got hurt. It was easier to have Hikaru forgive Emiko than Kaoru. If Kaoru had been injured than Hikaru would have been just as unforgiving and angry at her; however, since it was Hikaru's shoulder, Kaoru lost it and saw Emiko as an awful person that had hurt his brother. But yes, I see your point and I'm so glad you told me about this!**

* * *

**And now for chapter 24! **

"Katsu Takeo…" Kyoya scrolled through his phone. It had been easy to find who the owner of the house was once the twins had sent him the address. Takeo was a first-class businessman who'd inherited his father's fortune at an early age. _Typical_, Kyoya thought and continued scrolling. Takeo dealt with corporate trading mostly, but there were rumors of his involvement with shadier, less-favorable markets. Kyoya had always thought of him as a superfluous man. He'd never had any direct contact with him, but his brothers had met Takeo at various events. Kyoya remembered his older brother mentioning Takeo's sharp intellect and smooth-talking ways. _Sounds like a nuisance, _Kyoya had said. _Don't take him for granted, _his brother had replied sternly, _Takeo's sly as the devil and doesn't hold back._ His second older brother had nodded at that. _Yeah, best not get on his bad side little brother._

Kyoya felt the car pull to a stop. His phone buzzed and he saw Tamaki's caller ID. No doubt he was worrying himself sick. _The fool…_Kyoya shook his head and ignored it, stepping swiftly from the car. He, along with a single special-forces guard, walked up to the black iron fence surrounding the neatly kept mansion. No lights were on save for the one coming from the night-watch's station. A man emerged and held up his hand.

"Excuse me! Who are you? This is private property!" Kyoya smiled, glasses glinting in the pale moonlight.

"This property won't exist if I find he's hurt her," he began to move past the man.

"What are you talking about? You can't go through! Who do you think you are?!" The man reached for his side-weapon. Without missing a step, Kyoya grabbed the man by the shirt and removed the his gun, tossing it aside. He shoved the man at his personal guard, who easily knocked him unconscious.

"You may go now," Kyoya turned to his guard, "I'll take care of it from here."

"B-but master Kyoya, your safety…" the guard bowed his head slightly, shocked at the order. Kyoya turned narrowed eyes on him.

"My safety is irrelevant. It's _him_ people should worry about." And with that he turned and strode toward the mansion, eyes blazing with ruthless determination.

* * *

2:40 AM

"I've never heard of you," Emiko spat, eyes narrowed. She could feel the bruises forming around her neck. Her lungs ached for air and she braced herself for the frigid water. But it didn't happen. Katsu had dropped the knife and kicked over the second pail of water. He turned to her. His eyes glinted with annoyance.

"Please don't lie to me," he waved his hand tiredly, "It's late and I'm getting bored with you. Now," he leaned against the metal table, "Who sent you? Huh? A rival of mine?" His steely eyes gazed into hers.

"Heh," Emiko had her head down, "You really think you're important enough to have rivals?" She looked up at him with a mean smirk. "Don't be so confident, it's not a good look on you…" Katsu's eyes narrowed and his mouth dropped its charming grin. He straightened up quickly, took a stride toward Emiko, and smacked her across the face. Her eyes watered and her cheek stung. Something inside her mind snapped. _Agh…_She wanted to cry out in pain, but she knew she'd only be admitting weakness if she did that. _I'll kill you if I ever get free… _she thought, darkness filling her vision and threatening to throw her back into unconsciousness. _Better person? Yeah right… _she felt hysterical… _I'll make you suffer…_

She heard a loud banging sound, and then a crash. She looked up, blinking the tears out of her eyes. There in the faint light from an unseen window was Kyoya, face set in unnerving fury. Emiko barely recognized him. Katsu's face looked momentarily surprised before he slipped into a smirk.

"What's this? Ootori…" he placed a hand tenderly on Emiko's shoulder, "What ever could you be doing here? Certainly _you_, the youngest of the Ootoris, couldn't have anything important to do with your family's company… did your father send you?" Katsu smiled wickedly at Kyoya's still form. Kyoya had to swallow his anger before gaining control and replying.

"Torturing an innocent girl Takeo? How despicable," Kyoya's glasses shone.

"Oh interesting," Katsu nodded in thought, "The youngest Ootori _does_ have something to do with this little trespasser… could it be affection? Have you come to be her knight in shining armor?" Katsu laughed mockingly and gripped Emiko harder. She winced at the touch and shot him a glare full of hate.

Kyoya looked at him grimly, "If only I were so noble."

* * *

It happened in seconds. One second Takeo was standing behind Emiko, the next he was flying straight into the wall. Kyoya's shoulders heaved with his pent up rage. He had murder in his eyes. Emiko watched as Kyoya stepped up to Katsu's crumpled form. He bent down, gripping Katsu's neck. She could see he was about to lose control. She struggled with new energy against her restraints, not wanting Kyoya to do anything else.

Kyoya couldn't feel anything besides the thirst for revenge. It was startling at first, this flood of violent emotion. He wasn't used to it. Still, it made him feel powerful and he relished the look of contempt on Katsu's face.

"Don't get too cocky you bastard," Katsu hissed, trying to throw Kyoya off, "You're a dead man now… both of you!"

"Don't _ever_ threaten her again…" Kyoya slammed Katsu against the wall again, feeling the adrenaline course through his veins.

"K-Kyoya!" Emiko's weak voice cut through his rage. "Enough! Please!" She kept her voice as helpless and desperate as possible, hoping to stop his rampage. _He can't kill him… _she thought feverishly. _I won't let him._

Kyoya, having paused at her words, threw Katsu aside and went to her. He knelt by the ties on her hands and legs and snapped them easily with the knife Katsu had previously used to threaten her.

"Are you okay?" He asked, fury slowly fading into tired worry. Emiko nodded, rubbing her wrists.

"Yeah…" she said slowly, "I… I didn't want you to hurt him too much." Kyoya glanced at her, noting the unhinged sound of her words.

"I-I wasn't going to kill him," Kyoya looked taken aback. Emiko laughed unevenly, shaking her head.

"That's not it," she stopped laughing and something in her voice made Kyoya shiver, "I couldn't let you have all the fun…" She stood up from the chair, looking cruelly at the now-rising Katsu. She smiled sweetly at Kyoya's bewildered face. "Surely you didn't think I was going to let _you_ destroy him?" She laughed suddenly, eyes wild.

"His ass is mine!"

* * *

**Ta-da! Yay! Emiko's finally lost it! Whoo!... unless you don't like crazy... but I realized that I've been pretty mean to Emiko lately, so from here on out things will be nicer to her! **

**Also, fun little fact... when I was trying to come up with a name for Katsu... all of the options meant or had a close meaning to "victory"... just a cool coincidence that made me smile!**

**I want to thank everyone who has made it this far! You all are the reason I keep writing! *attempts to give super-bear hug of love to all readers***

***readers run away***

***come back! we're meant for each otherrrrrr!" **

**hehe... awkward author adoration... not sorry! ;]**


	25. Revenge Should Be Sweet, Shouldn't It?

**ahhh I'm actually really excited! Wait till you get to the end of the chapter and read the reason for my excited-ness! Also, thanks for reading! I am so honored that y'all have made it this far ;D**

* * *

All she saw was an evil. An evil that had hurt her and threatened her. An evil that needed to be wiped out. She'd already decided that she'd rather die than let him get away with torturing her. She lunged forward and hit Katsu back down. Feeling the sting of his cheek bone colliding with her fist. _Good._ She thought with satisfaction. She reached for the metal chair, Katsu didn't move. It looked like he was unconscious. Time for him to pay. She gripped the cold metal chair tightly. Suddenly, she was jerked back by two arms.

"No! Emiko." Kyoya spoke calmly. Much too calmly. It made Emiko's chest and head burn. She let go of the chair.

"Let me go!" She struggled out of his grasp, eyes set on Katsu. "He's going to suffer!" She felt nothing but the need to destroy him. To rid the world of his evil. It was a deranged justice.

"Enough! It's over!" Kyoya had to practically tackle her to the ground. He held her writhing form firmly in his arms, wrapping his legs around her as well. She fought viciously to escape.

"No! I have to!" She gasped in panicked fury. _He doesn't understand! I need to make him hurt! He needs to feel the same pain!_

"Calm down! You're safe now!" Kyoya's own rage and violence had disappeared, replaced with his worry over Emiko's hysterical condition. "Emiko," he clung to her even tighter, "This… this revenge… this anger… you need to let it go!" He could feel her frantic heartbeat and ignored her desperate pleas to release her.

"I…" she began to say, still trying to break free, "I can't…"

"Yes, you can," Kyoya said, voice muffled by her shoulder. He felt Emiko shake her head, a contrast to her heaving shoulders.

"No… you don't understand…" she felt her voice break, "If… if I'm not angry… if I can't be furious…" she stopped struggling and felt her resolve waver, "I'll be scared."

"Then be scared," Kyoya said quietly, "It's the only rational feeling… be terrified of what just happened… be so scared you want to cry…" he paused as Emiko turned to face him, "And when you're scared… when you're crying… I'll be here…" He watched as a tear rolled down Emiko's cheek. She put a shaking hand to her face, realization dawning on her.

"I…" She couldn't speak. Her body was hot and cold at the same time. She wanted to laugh in relief and cry in pain. She felt more tears drip down her face. She watched as Kyoya lifted a hand and wiped them away. That was the last crack before the dam was broken. She collapsed into his arms and sobbed.

* * *

The next morning:

"He's gone?" Kyoya nearly crushed the phone. He took a deep, calming breath, and resumed listening to the stuttering police officer.

"I-I'm sorry sir, but there's no sign of him anywhere! We've put out alerts to all the airports and other transportation offices… but nothing's been reported…" the officer trailed off in nervousness.

"Damn," Kyoya clenched his jaw and hung up. _That bastard Takeo disappeared! How could he have evaded my own goddamn police force? And now every possible calculation says he would've headed to the nearest exit out of Japan… and yet… naturally he'd want to stay by his business… of course! Stupid! Why didn't I think of this earlier! … I need to start thinking clearly… analyze this… I can do that, can't I?_

"Mr. Ootori," a man's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes?" Kyoya looked up at the man's starch-white doctor's jacket.

"She's in stable condition and resting. I've treated her wounds to the best of my ability and suggest sleep and hydration to combat the shock," the doctor bowed in respect and exited. Kyoya sighed tiredly, feeling exhaustion weigh heavily on his shoulders.

He stood up from his seat by the window and padded lightly into the next room. The drapes were drawn tightly, closing out any of the early-morning light. He ran a hand through his unkempt hair and looked at the still form on the bed. Emiko lay there, breathing shallowly, with her eyes closed. Her arms were tucked under the layers of blankets and sheets, and her hair was messily thrown across her pillow. His eyes landed on the bruises around her neck. No doubt there were more, unseen injuries, but Kyoya didn't dwell on that thought.

He went over to a large, padded chair to her right and sat quietly, not sure what he was doing there. She'd refused to go to the hospital, and had been in near-hysterics when he'd tried to force her there. It had pained him to see her that way. _I quit…_ now the words pressed guiltily on him. He'd been the one to make her say that… but it wasn't his fault… was it? She's the obnoxious and rude one… right? He looked over at her small form. She looked so small and helpless. It made his chest tighten when he looked back at the bruises. _Did I let that happen?_

Little by little he felt himself doze off.

* * *

"-ya…." He shifted his head, feeling a soreness emanating from his neck.

"K…ya…" He slowly was roused from sleep.

"Kyoya!" His eyes flew open. Standing in front of him was Tamaki, arms around his stuffed bear. Kyoya blinked again and put a hand to his face, composing himself. How long had he been asleep?

"What are you doing here?" Kyoya finally cleared his throat and stood, now noticing the rest of the Hosts sitting around Emiko's bed.

"We're here to check on you of course!" Tamaki said with a shrug. "We were really worried about you two…" His eyes drifted over to Emiko. Haruhi was holding her hand and Emiko was just stirring from sleep as well.

"What happened over there?" Hikaru and Kaoru came to stand beside the two. Tamaki looked between Emiko and Kyoya.

"We'd best not talk about it now…" Kyoya said sternly.

"H-how are you?" Haruhi's voice interrupted their conversation. Emiko struggled to a leaning position and smiled tiredly.

"I'm alright," she looked over at Kyoya. _He looks tired…_

"Thank goodness," Haruhi sighed in relief and wrapped her arms around the injured girl. Emiko felt tears well up at the idea of Haruhi being worried about her.

"Hey, Emi-chan…" Honey and Mori were on her left, having just set down the box of "get-well" sweets.

"Yes?" She looked at them.

"We wanna stay with you, okay?" Honey tilted his head, "Even though we're in different classes… we want to walk you to school and class! It'd be more fun… right?" Emiko nodded, feeling a flush of embarrassment.

"You really don't have to do that…" she replied hesitantly. Mori put a gentle hand on her head.

"We'll protect you." She looked at him and finally exhaled in understanding.

"Alright…" She felt better, sore, but better. There was a lingering ache in her chest that made her want to cry, but the only other feeling she felt was the absolute need for revenge. Yes she was safe now… but for how long? _That Takeo must have friends in high places… or low…_ thinking about him made her anxious and angry at the same time. _At least the hosts will protect you…_ a small part of her tried to stay positive…true… that was very true… but how could they possibly protect me against someone as malicious and ruthless as Takeo? _No! Be confident in them!_ She laughed internally… _yeah… the better question is: who will protect Takeo once I find him?_

* * *

Friday, Music Room #3:

"Welcome ladies!" The Host Club is now open for business!

* * *

"H-hey! Emiko stop moving! Geez!" Haruhi scolded the now frozen in place Emiko. Haruhi turned murderous eyes on her. "Don' . . !" Emiko's hand was inches away from the broom. She looked guiltily at Haruhi's determined frown and huffed in defeat.

"Fine…" she gave Haruhi the best puppy-dog face she could muster and moved away.

"Dammit Emiko! Stop it!" Hikaru and Kaoru plucked the teapot away from her. Emiko rolled her eyes.

"Hey! What if that had been for me?" The twins stuck their tongues out at her.

"Can't fool us stupiddd…" they high-fived each other and shooed her away.

"Agh… it's been days since then! Let me do something!" Emiko shook her head. _Geez… It's not like I've broken my arms or legs!_ Such worriers… Warmth bubbled up in her chest and she hid her smile. The smile quickly disappeared when she thought of Takeo again. She couldn't get him out of her head. _I'd like to break __his__ arms and legs…_ she shook her head again, surprised at her own violent thoughts. _There's no chance I'll even find him though… right?_ Still…

* * *

Kyoya had a sneaking suspicion that something was up. He had been keeping a close eye on her and had finally seen her slip away, phone in hand. _Nice try idiot…_ he thought, striding quickly to the door. He found her hiding behind a costume rack, staring at the ground and nodding along intently with whoever was speaking to her on the phone. Irritation filled Kyoya as he pushed up his glasses.

"You're not going to find him," he said icily, glaring at the phone. Emiko jumped slightly when she heard his voice.

"Doesn't mean I can't try," she said defiantly. Kyoya rolled his eyes and easily snatched the phone out of her grasp, clicking it shut.

"Hey!"

"This is for your own good! Stop looking for trouble… be lucky he's gone!"

"But he's not gone!" She wrapped her arms around herself, "He's out there somewhere… and…" she dropped her head down, voice growing eerily serious, "I need to find him before he finds me…. It's me or him."

"You idiot…" Kyoya's voice was heavy with annoyance, "You aren't in this alone… Everyone is here for you and worried…" There was a trace of a laugh when he continued, "Heh… and… even if you tried to do this alone or enact some insane and idiotic revenge plot… we'd never let you, it's futile to even try…" he smiled sweetly at her, glasses glinting.

Emiko sniffed in indifference. _Still a jerk…_ she detested his smirking victory. _Let's see how confident he is when I find that Takeo and…_

"Hey! Kyoya there you are! We were just confirming the decorations for the Hallowe-" Tamaki stopped mid-sentence. His eyes went wide and he looked startled at Emiko. Kyoya shook his head. Tamaki looked like he wanted to hit himself.

"You buffoon…" Kyoya sighed and turned to the door. "Now you've ruined the surprise…"

* * *

**And now for the explanation!**

**So you've all probably figured out that this is a Halloween surprise! It's a Halloween Bazar and Midnight Masquerade hosted by the lovely Host Club! It's going to be the beginning of the end... but fear not! There will be plenty of fun and drama before the true end comes ;]**

**Now, what I need from you: I want you guys to suggest as many pranks/tricks as you want and I will pick TWO to include in the story! Make sure to specify who is tricking and who is getting tricked (it can be everyone or a specific character!) **

**It's up to YOU! to decide who'll get tricked, who'll do the tricking... and maybe even the person that gets a treat! ;)**

**I'm so excited to hear what tricks you guys can come up with! *starry eyed author* **

**P.S. guess who comes back? **


	26. Tricks Taste Better Than Treats

**Hey everyone! Thank you SO much for reading! I appreciate it so much and can't thank you guys enough! *throws out rainbows and unicorns* **

**Enjoy! ;) **

* * *

"Tamaki! Over there! No! Over _there_!"

"Tamaki! Here take this! Hurry!"

"Tama-chan! Quickly! Only a couple more hours!"

* * *

"Huff…" Tamaki wiped the sweat from his forehead. He glanced mournfully at the other hosts who were conferencing at the table. He'd accidentally spilled the secret surprise to Emiko and as a punishment, Kyoya had put him under the command of the rest of the hosts. _Is this what it was like for Haruhi?_ He looked at the stack of decorations he'd been moving. He'd hardly sat down the entire day, but there was still so much to do before the opening.

"Tamaki-senpai!" Haruhi motioned for him to come over. Tamaki's head perked up at the thought of being invited to join the meeting.

"We've changed our minds," the twins grinned widely at their pouting king, "We don't like the red leaves… we want orange."

"Oh and the caterer wants someone to set out the food stalls' floor plan," Kyoya added, scribbling in his notebook. Tamaki pouted even more, looking miserably at Haruhi.

"You're not getting any sympathy from me senpai," she bit down happily on a piece of tuna, "You're the one who ruined the surprise…"

"But I didn't know she was there!" Tamaki exclaimed in despair. He put a hand to his cheek, "Oh the plight of the misunderstood! Such hard work for a Bazar!"

"Misunderstood? St-uuuu-pid boss," the twins cackled, "You just," Kaoru began, "Can't keep," Hikaru followed. "A secret," they finished in unison, sticking their tongues out at Tamaki.

"Why you ungrateful little creeps!" Tamaki leapt up, fist in the air. "When I get my hands on you-" The twins made a rude face and watched Tamaki grow redder and redder.

"There does seem to be a level of untrustworthiness about you Tamaki," Kyoya cut in mildly. Tamaki froze.

"B-but K-kyoya…" His puppy dog face threatened to emerge. Kyoya smiled and pushed up his glasses.

"And because of this," Kyoya looked endearingly, but wickedly at his friend, "As further punishment you'll have to be tricked today." The twins nodded along, schemes and plans already making the gears turn in their heads. Tamaki stuck his bottom lip out in protest. Kyoya stretched in his chair and began got up to leave, turning one last time to Tamaki, grinning. "Prepare yourself."

* * *

Music Room #3; 4:00 PM

"H-hey Tamaki! Over here!" Kaoru held out a finalized version of their costumes. Tamaki strode over, rolling up his sleeves. As soon as he rounded the corner, his heart nearly stopped. Hikaru had leapt out, face covered with a zombie mask, and almost sent Tamaki screaming. _No! Can't let them scare me!_ Tamaki, regaining composure, put on the most confident face he could.

"Nice try foolish brats!" He smiled wider and wider as his heart rate dropped back down to normal. "You'll never scare me!" The twins frowned in their failure, trying to figure out a new plan.

_*Loud motor* _

"Ah-ha-ha-ha!" A shrill laugh echoed in the room as a large pedestal spiraled out of the floor. "Ha-hah-hah!" Renge spun around, clad in a full witch costume. She smiled, posing and twirling, looking down at the surprised hosts. (Haruhi: again? This is a damn music room!)

"Ah, Renge," Kyoya came to stand beside Haruhi. "You've returned, have you?"

"Haha yes! The production of my second film is complete! Ah, it was so rewarding!" She clasped her hands together and sighed. "But!" She whipped around, point a finger at the twins, "You call _that_ a trick? No, no, no…" She shook her head. "You can't go for lukewarm pranks! If you're going to trick somebody, it'd better have some heart in it!" The twins looked at her skeptically.

"Hey! Don't put any more ideas in their heads!" Tamaki protested. Renge shot him an innocent smile and looked at the twins, "Don't worry boys, stick with me! We've got some tricks to play…"

* * *

4:30 PM

Tamaki made his way slowly down the hall. He glanced out the tall, looming windows and watched as the final stalls for the bazar were put in place. There were food stalls, game stalls, and all other sorts to entertain their guests. _Not our guests…_ Tamaki thought with a smile. Kyoya had worked really hard on this; organizing everything to the last detail. He hadn't even let Emiko see all the setup… _Yes, definitely not for our guests…_ Tamaki sighed happily at the thought and continued, turning a corner.

The next hallway was darker than the first. Tamaki shook his head, prepared for the twins' assault. Those two idiots would never get the best of him! There was a creak to his right. He stopped, bracing himself. Nothing happened. He shrugged and continued walking.

*_Click* *Click*_

The sound made him pause again. He placed his hands on his hips.

"Alright you two! I've been working all day and I've had enough of your ridiculous antics! The bazar's about to start!" He waited. Nothing. *_Click_* _*Click* _

Suddenly, a screen flickered to life on the wall. Tamaki's heart beat a little quicker, but he kept calm. The screen clicked and whirred. It looked like something from the old, black and white movies. The clicking stopped and instead numbers began counting down.

When the number reached one, the screen flicked to a field. There were chairs lined up and a beautiful canopy of leaves surrounding a small altar. _What is this?_ Tamaki continued to watch. The screen flicked ahead, now showing all of the chairs filled with people. Musicians were to the right of the altar, playing silently. Then, there was the twins. They were in suits and smirking at the camera. They stood at the altar and seemed to be grinning just at Tamaki. Hikaru stuck his tongue out. The screen finally flicked to a girl. She was dressed in all white and had a veil covering her face. _No…_ Tamaki began to back away. He saw the brown hair get ruffled gently by an unseen breeze. The dress was beautiful. Tamaki turned and rushed down the hall, hoping to get away from the terrifying idea. There was a series of clicks, and the screen followed him! He raced away, knowing he was only seconds away from reaching the music room. Not daring to look at the beautiful bride making her way down the aisle toward those dastardly twins. He huffed and finally reached the door, barging into the room.

"Haruhi! Don't marry those demons!" He froze, panting when he saw the scene.

"Oh boss," Hikaru began.

"Glad you could finally make it," Kaoru grinned slyly. They were dressed in the same suits as the video and had their arms around a slender girl who was facing away.

"You're just in time," Kyoya stepped out from the shadows, smiling mercilessly at his stupefied friend.

The twins winked at Tamaki and whipped the girl around to face him. Tamaki melted when he saw her. She was the picture of beauty in that white dress. It made Tamaki turn to stone.

"Senpai? What're you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be talking to the caterer?" Haruhi shrugged off the twins' gleeful embrace and removed the veil.

"Bahahahaha!" The twins were practically rolling on the ground. Even Kyoya had chuckled at Tamaki's bewildered face. This laughter cracked his stone form and he looked helplessly at the hosts.

"So funny! You should've seen your face boss!" Kaoru laughed. Hikaru nodded, "But y'know…." He placed an arm around Haruhi's small shoulders again. "Since we're already here…" Kaoru picked up.

"NEVER!" Tamaki finally melted completely and pushed up his sleeves. "You'll never take my sweet Haruhi! Never! You demons!"

"Oh Tamaki," Kyoya chuckled. Tamaki turned to Kyoya.

"You traitor! Mommys don't betray daddys!" Haruhi huffed at this.

"Can I take this off yet? I thought you guys said it was to see if it fit someone else!" The twins flashed her a grin.

"Poor Haruhi! My little girl!" Tamaki threw back his head in a woeful manner. "Don't worry Haruhi, daddy is here to protect you! And," he eyed Kyoya sneakily (though not too sneakily because he was never really good at being sly), "I'll even make sure some certain people get outside their comfort zones…"

* * *

5:00 PM

"Welcome to our Halloween Bazar! Please enjoy our cultural foods, activities, and much more!"

* * *

"Oh Honey-senpai," the girls cooed, "Can we play with you and Mori? Maybe we'll win a stuffed animal!" The girls nodded along.

"Sure! We'd love to play, right Takashi?" Honey beamed up at them.

"Yeah," Mori nodded stoically and the girls all nearly swooned.

* * *

"Hey Hikaru, want to try this Halloween candy? It's your favorite, melon flavored," Kaoru offered up some of the candy.

"I'll take some…." Hikaru tilted Kaoru's head up, "If you'll feed it too me."

All of the girls around them blushed and felt faint.

* * *

"Kyoya! Hey," Tamaki rushed up to Kyoya, who was just showing some of their guests where the apple-bobbing was stationed.

"What is it?"

"You haven't seen Emiko yet, have you?"

"No…" Kyoya kept his face straight.

"You should find her," Tamaki smiled gently at his friend's unnatural obliviousness.

"Is it necessary that I find her?" Kyoya put on a bored tone. Tamaki chuckled quietly and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Go."

* * *

5:20 PM

"There you are," Kyoya's tall form blocked her path. Emiko set down the stack of books she'd been carrying on the window ledge. "What are you doing here?" Kyoya gestured at the dark and empty hallway.

"You mean: why am I not out there?" Emiko gestured out the window. Kyoya shrugged. "There's so much… and so many people… I didn't know where to begin…" she finished with a slight laugh.

"Well you should go…" Kyoya's voice was more hesitant than he liked.

"I don't know," Emiko sighed, looking out at the people milling around the different stalls.

Kyoya sighed in annoyance, "Idiot." Emiko looked up swiftly, eyes shining with indignation.

"And why am I an 'idiot'?" She crossed her arms. Kyoya pushed his annoyance to the back of his mind and kept his face as calm as possible. Emiko took his silence as defeat.

In quick movements, he grabbed her arm and shoulder, pushing her back against the wall. He brought his face close to hers. She looked at him, eyes wide and heart pounding in her chest. He moved his hand from her shoulder and tipped her head up. His eyes glinted in the dark.

"Because it's for you…" His voice was a whisper; it tickled her cheeks and made something flutter in the pit of her stomach. He brought his face even closer. "It's all for you." Emiko could hardly breathe. They were less than an inch apart. She could feel his warmth and practically hear his heart beat in the soundless hallway. Kyoya leaned in and closed the space between them.

* * *

**Phew... how do you like it? I enjoyed writing this chapter because it was light and cute... I hope y'all feel the same :)**

**Anyway, want more KyoyaxEmiko romance? well.. maybe there'll be more... maybe there won't be.. we'll have to see ;D**

**Thanks to all my readers and reviewers! (also, just to keep this up to date: I seriously don't own any of the characters (besides my own)! **

**P.S. Thanks to JuliannaCherries who caught my mistake!**


	27. Maleficence

**Ohmygoodness... you guys are just TOO adorable! Thank you all for your lovely reviews! They honestly make my day so much better ^_^ Sigh... if only I could give y'all something in return... oh wait, here's some romantic action... will that do? ;D**

* * *

The kiss was warm and soft. It made Emiko's head feel light and her heart fluttered in her chest. Kyoya's arms had wrapped around her and she leaned deeper into the kiss.

"Ha… ha…" Emiko breathed quickly as Kyoya pulled away, keeping his arms around her. She noticed she wasn't the only one breathing heavily. Kyoya looked down at her, amazed at the rush of emotions that he'd never felt before. _Damn…_ he thought with an inner smile_… I almost lost myself…_

Emiko looked down, not sure she liked the sensation of missing his touch so much. When she looked up, she found him gazing at her. His normally stern and cold eyes shone with warmth and made her pulse quicken. Just as she was about to speak, Kyoya's phone rang. Kyoya sighed and stepped back, reaching for it. Emiko felt very empty without his arms around her. _What is this feeling? _

"Ah yes Tamaki…" Kyoya finished speaking and clicked the phone shut. Emiko fidgeted, not knowing how to act with all these feelings running through her.

"You're busy," she managed to say, "You should go…" Kyoya looked at her, noting how nice it had been to have her in his arms.

"The masquerade will begin eventually… I take it you'll actually attend seeing as I put so much effort into it…" he offered her a familiar smirk and turned to go. Emiko looked after him, the gears in her head turning and processing. _Ah… that's what this is…_ the puzzle piece finally clicked.

She rushed forward, covering the few feet between them, and pulled Kyoya to a stop, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face into his back. Kyoya had frozen, unsure of what she was doing. She could hear his heart beat and felt the rise and fall of his breathing.

"You're so annoying…" she said, voice muffled by his blazer. She felt a laugh ripple through his body and could feel heat rising to her cheeks. _What a nuisance…_ she thought… he had already made her feel this way… _how could I have let him get the upper hand already? _

"Right back at you…" he smiled and whipped around, taking her chin and tilting her head into another kiss. This one was fiercer than the first and it slowly burned through Emiko's veins, melting her shocked form. When at last Kyoya broke away, Emiko felt lightheaded and had to take a step back to regain her balance. Kyoya smiled haughtily.

"Try to keep up," he chuckled and left, leaving Emiko flushed and wishing she had something witty to say in return.

* * *

8:00 PM

"Sir, are you positive you do not want anyone else to go with you?" The man was hesitant in offering the suggestion.

"Why would I need anyone else?" The reply came quickly and sternly.

"It… it's just that any number of your adversaries could be there as well… it will be an affluent crowd after all…" the man internally cursed at his braveness.

"You doubt my abilities?" There was a harsh laugh.

"No, not at all Master Takeo… I am just concerned for your safety," the man bowed low. Takeo scoffed.

"Don't be," he laughed quietly, "This little excursion is nothing more than my evening entertainment… child's play.." He waited as the car pulled up to the curb. He opened the door and stepped out, leaning down with a smile for his closest advisor. "Besides," he smoothed back his hair, "I've always wanted to see how fast ants will scatter from a flame."

* * *

8:30 PM

"Welcome to the Host Club's Masquerade Ball!" The hosts bowed deeply and welcomed the guests with delighted smiles.

"Oh my… look! How cute!" The girls all lowered their masks and gazed at Honey and Mori. "Honey looks so adorable as an angel!" The girls nodded. "And look at Mori! What a handsome devil!" They sighed into their hands.

"Wow! Hikaru, Kaoru… you look so good!" A group of guests murmured their compliments. "Thanks!" The twins wore matching werewolf costumes. "But Hikaru," Kaoru began nervously, "Why do you look scary while I look ridiculous?" Hikaru looked at him in surprise and took his chin in his hands. "Kaoru… you don't look ridiculous…" Karou looked up with shining eyes. "I don't?" Hikaru shook his head, "Not at all, plus I have to be scary one…" He brought their faces close, "I have to be scary enough to protect you." Kaoru's eyes widened, "Hikaru…" All of the girls around them nearly had nosebleeds.

"Tamaki! You look so good!" The girls clustered excitedly around him. "You think so?" He put a hand to his face, running a finger across the fake fangs he had on. "I think you're the ones that look good… absolutely delicious…" He smiled and the girls all blushed.

"Idiots…" Haruhi huffed and leaned against a pillar.

"You look like you're not enjoying the festivities," a voice interrupted her sigh.

"Emiko!" Haruhi looked at her in surprise. "You weren't at the bazar…" she stated matter-of-factly. Emiko blushed. _Why does she look so embarrassed?_ Haruhi thought briefly, but then let go of the thought.

"Sorry, I… I had some work to take care of…" Emiko almost choked on the lie. "What are you supposed to be?" She quickly switched the subject.

"Oh.. um.. a fairy?" Haruhi shrugged her shoulders. "They really like to make me dress like a girl…" she shook her head. "But what are you?" Emiko looked down at her dress. It was crimson and gold and it matched the intricate mask she wore.

"I don't really know…" she laughed, "Just a girl with a mask I guess." Haruhi nodded and smiled.

"You two!" A commanding voice made them jump. Renge had appeared and pointed a finger at both of them. "Why are you not out there having fun!?" She demanded. She was dressed in a princess costume and had to carefully lift her skirts before barging over.

"Uh.. eh.." Haruhi and Emiko stuttered. Renge tsked.

"Emiko," another voice cut through. It was Kyoya. Emiko froze, her heart threatened to pound out of her chest.

"Kyoya senpai," Haruhi said, unaware of Emiko's icy figure beside her, "Good job, this is pretty incredible…"

"Yes, good job…" Renge looked suspiciously back and forth between Emiko and Kyoya. "Well," Renge clapped her hands, startling Emiko out of her frozen state, "Let's go dance Haruhi!" Before Haruhi could respond, Renge had grabbed her arm and whirled her away to the center of the room.

"Are you going for 'ice queen'? Because I recommend a different color palette…" Kyoya smiled superiorly. This melted Emiko.

"And what are you supposed to be?" She finally was able to look him up and down. He wore a simple dark suit and a black and silver mask.

"A goblin," he shrugged and took a step toward her, "You know… they say that goblins will find a beautiful maiden to spirit away," he took Emiko's hand and pulled her to the dance floor. "You'd better be careful," he whispered, making the hair by her ear flutter and her heart beat faster.

* * *

They danced, spinning gracefully across the floor. Emiko's cheeks burned. It was dizzying being so close to him. He held her tenderly and led her with the perfect ease of a practiced ballroom dancer. It made her feel clumsy in comparison. The people around them laughed and smiled, gliding endlessly to the music. It was just at the beginning of a beautiful violin piece that Kyoya ended their dancing.

"Sorry," he led her off the central floor, "I have to check in with Tamaki and the twins." He looked genuinely apologetic and Emiko nodded with a smile.

"Don't worry, I'll be here," she gestured at the elegant buffet of food and drinks and watched him stride off, feeling the burning sensation where his hands had held her slowly fade.

"Hey," a guy's voice made her look up. It was one of her classmates.

"Hi," she smiled kindly, grabbing a glass. "Would you like some of the punch? I hear it's good," she offered him a glass as well. He smiled and nodded.

"Thanks… hey, you spend a lot of time with the Host Club right?" Emiko raised her eyebrows at the question.

"Hmm.. well yes I suppose," she shrugged and laughed.

"So you guys must be pretty close huh?" The guy smiled back. Emiko nodded. "Like a family?" The guy said hopefully.

"Oh… well yeah I guess you could call it that," Emiko chuckled, unaware of the meaning behind the question.

"By the way, you look really great…" the guy grinned embarrassedly and ran a hand through his hair.

"Thanks, you're costume is good too!" Emiko smiled charmingly.

* * *

"K-Kyoya…?" Tamaki noticed the temperature change almost immediately. "Y..you okay?" Tamaki reached a shaking hand out to Kyoya. Kyoya whipped around, flames burned in his eyes.

"That _idiot_…" his voice made Tamaki gulp.

"Oh haha I'm sure it's nothing… hehe they're just chatting," Tamaki batted a hand, trying to calm his smoldering friend. "Ah hey! Kyoya come back! What're you going to do!?" Tamaki watched helplessly as Kyoya stalked off toward the table.

* * *

"Kyoya?" Emiko looked at his stormy face in shock. He strode up, grabbed her arm, and marched away.

"Hey! We were talking!" The guy protested, taking a step. Kyoya turned around with a face that could've belonged to the devil himself. The guy turned blue and gulped, "N-never m-mind…"

"Hey, what're you doing?!" Emiko struggled to break free of his grasp. He ignored her and continued dragging her out through a corridor. Emiko had to almost jog to keep up. They rounded a corner, passing flickering candles. Kyoya scanned the hallway and jerked them right, opening a classroom door and shutting it in one swift motion. In the same movement, he'd pinned Emiko to the wall.

"What…" she began to say, but was instantly quieted by his lips. He kissed her roughly, gripping her arm and shoulder. When he broke away she saw the gleam of annoyance in his eyes.

"What's wrong!?" She finally managed to gasp, feeling his touch and warmth burn through every muscle.

"What's wrong?" He chuckled mockingly, "You really are an idiot… an oblivious idiot."

"What!?" Emiko felt indignation rise and she fought to break free of his hold.

"You obviously don't know how unbelievably beautiful you are… that guy was not the only one looking at you," his glasses glinted. "You're so oblivious you can't even tell when you're intoxicating the men around you…" he loosened his grip on her arm, "Including me." He bent down and kissed her again. It was still fierce, but she felt some of his annoyance dissipate. In a sudden thought, Emiko figured it out. She began laughing, breaking the kiss.

"What's so funny?" Kyoya looked at her in surprise.

"I can't believe it…" she laughed to herself again, "You're jealous." She stated it with an excited tone of triumph. Kyoya loved and hated the look of victory on her face. His normally calm and cool persona had been taken over by a jealous need to have Emiko in his arms. He almost felt embarrassed by the feeling.

"Jealous? Maybe…" he brought a hand to her neck, "But maybe that's just a sign I need to work harder at making you mine…" he trailed his fingers down her neck and brought his lips to just below her jawline. His lips made the skin on her neck feel on fire and she breathed in sharply as he left a trail of blazing kisses down past her collar bone.

* * *

9:00 PM

Shouts and screams from down the hall made them jump. They looked at each other, both breathing heavily and feeling the tingling absence of one another's touch. There were more panicked shouts. A sinking feeling in the pit of Emiko's stomach made her blood run cold. An enormous crashing shook the floor. They opened the door and ran toward the sound.

* * *

**Ah the beginning of the end... the climax is up next.. but did you guys like this chapter? Let me know! I love hearing from you and every time I see a beautiful new review I just want to launch a rainbow at you... seriously, think Zeus and his lightning bolts but with rainbows instead :]**

**anyway, thanks for reading and you guys are the best! Thanks a [insert enormous number here]!**


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